Endangered Plant Won’t Be Removed --for Now : Conservation: Golf course developer backs off on threat to clear spineflower from Big Tujunga Wash. An agreement on mitigation terms will be sought.

An embattled development company that has tried for more than five years to build a private golf club in the east San Fernando Valley’s Big Tujunga Wash has temporarily dropped its controversial threat to remove an endangered plant.

Cosmo World Corp., a Japanese-owned golf course development company, notified state and local wildlife officials this week that it has suspended for at least 90 days its plan to remove the rare slender-horned spineflower from the wash.

Cosmo’s plan to remove the flower, announced two weeks ago, caused an uproar, including threats of legal action.

The spineflower is a fragile but unremarkable-looking plant that has done much to stymie Cosmo from developing its 355-acre parcel in Big Tujunga Wash, a rugged area designated as one of a handful of natural and environmentally sensitive areas in Los Angeles.

The latest controversy began when Cosmo, citing an obscure state law, notified government wildlife agencies that they had 10 days to salvage the spineflower before the company removed the plant from its property.

Then, in a letter last Friday, the state Department of Fish and Game warned Cosmo that it would sue to block its plan.

On Monday, an attorney for Cosmo told state and federal wildlife officials that his client would not move against the plant for another 90 days, saying the company was backing off at the urging of Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes the wash.

Cosmo attorney Andrew Hartzell said his client hopes to use the extra time to reach an agreement with government agencies on a “fair and acceptable mitigation program” to protect the spineflower.

Hartzell said his client only resorted to the threat of removing the spineflower after its latest proposal for dealing with the plant received a cool reception from government wildlife officials.

Cosmo recently proposed creating a 78-acre spineflower preserve on its property, agreeing to fund the first comprehensive study of the plant. But this plan was greeted with disinterest by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in recent negotiations, Hartzell said in his letter.

The wildlife service said several years ago that Cosmo’s original golf course plan--even with mitigations to protect the spineflower--would jeopardize the endangered plant. No opinion has been issued by the service regarding Cosmo’s latest plan.

Cosmo began buying land in the wash in 1987 and has been trying ever since to win approval for the golf course.