Entries Tagged 'Endangered species' ↓

A wolverine that wandered more than 500 miles from Wyoming into Colorado last year has apparently found a home near the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park, and environmental groups are now eying the Centennial state as a possible reintroduction site for the elusive predator, the Denver Post reports.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to propose protecting an additional 19,000 acres of land along the Front Range as critical habitat for the threatened Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, as part of a broad effort within the agency to reconsider endangered species decisions, the Denver Post reports.

In a finding prompted by a court settlement with Center for Native Ecosystems, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that an endangered Colorado wildflower, the clay-loving wild buckwheat, needs greater protection, especially on Bureau of Land Management land east of Delta and Montrose. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to revise critical habitat for the clay-loving wild buckwheat, saying it was precluded by “other priorities.”

In making the finding that additional critical habitat designation was warranted, the Fish and Wildlife Service underscored the precarious status of the clay-loving wild buckwheat, which is found only on the Adobe hills east of Delta and Montrose.

The service found that the Colorado native survives on less than 600 acres scattered across the clay hills. The current critical habitat designation protects 11 percent of that acreage and less than one percent of the total population of the species.

“It would take so little to protect clay-loving wild buckwheat from the many threats it faces—just a few hundred acres,” Josh Pollock, conservation director at Center for Native Ecosystems, said in a statement.

Across its range, clay-loving wild buckwheat is threatened by increasing dirt bike and ATV trespass on Bureau of Land Management land outside of Montrose, as well as by booming development at the edges of Montrose and along the entire Uncompahgre Valley.

Between seven and 14 populations of clay-loving wild buckwheat have already been lost, many paved over by housing developments or trampled by dirt bikes, ATVs and livestock.

Clay-loving wild buckwheat has been listed as an endangered species since 1984. At the time, only one population was known.

Since then, additional sites have been discovered, but the critical habitat designation was never updated.

“This is an update to key protections for the buckwheat that is long overdue,” Ashley Wilmes, an attorney who represented Center for Native Ecosystems in the effort to secure an overdue finding from the Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement. “The federal government needs to hurry up and finish the job before this wildflower loses more ground.”

According to recent research, more than 50 species of insect visit the clay-loving wild buckwheat’s flowers, and it is often one of the primary flowers found in the tiny patches where it grows.

“Clay-loving wild buckwheat is an important part of a unique and fragile landscape,” said Pollock. “Protecting the buckwheat’s habitat would also protect important parts of the Adobes, the backdrop for Montrose and the Gunnison Gorge National Recreation Area.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, conservation of clay-loving wild buckwheat “should focus primarily on the conservation of undisturbed habitat.”

In 2006, Center for Native Ecosystems, the Colorado Native Plant Society and the Uncompahgre Valley Association petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to expand the critical habitat designation for clay-loving wild buckwheat. In 2008, the Fish and Wildlife Service settled a lawsuit with Center for Native Ecosystems, agreeing to publish a final determination by today.

In 2007, a coalition of state agencies and non-profit organizations, including Center for Native Ecosystems and Colorado Native Plant Society, partnered with local landowners to protect a key population of the clay-loving wild buckwheat east of Montrose. As a result, the Wacker Ranch Natural Area was created as a preserve for the buckwheat and other native plants of the Adobe Hills.

While an important refuge for the buckwheat, this protected area is only a small portion of the remaining habitat for the species and environmentalists say it’s not enough to ensure its survival.

Former Utah Gov. John Huntsman Jr. (R), Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) signed an agreement last month to extend a program to recover endangered fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin through 2023, the Deseret News reports.

A western Colorado county and a coalition of environmental groups have settled a lawsuit against the Fish and Wildlife Service challenging an April 2006 decision not to list the Gunnison sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement, which was approved today by Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court of Washington, D.C., requires the agency to prepare a new listing decision by June 30, 2010.

The agency determined in March that its April 2006 denial of Endangered Species Act protection to Gunnison sage grouse was tainted by interference from Julie MacDonald, who at the time was deputy assistant secretary at the Interior Department, and other Bush Administration officials.

“We are eager to secure protection for the Gunnison sage-grouse as soon as possible,” San Miguel County Commissioner Joan May said in a statement. “Long-term viability of the species is unquestionably at risk now, and every additional delay decreases the likelihood of full recovery.”

The settlement follows discouraging news this spring: annual counts revealed that all but two populations of Gunnison sage grouse continued to decline in 2009. Some populations have been reduced to fewer than 10 birds.

“Endangered wildlife like Gunnison sage grouse deserve a fair chance at protection,” Erin Robertson, senior staff biologist for the Center for Native Ecosystems in Denver, said in a statement. “After years of political interference, it is time for a speedy, unbiased decision that will provide the Gunnison sage grouse the help it needs.”

Audubon has identified Gunnison sage grouse as among the 10 most endangered birds in the United States. The Endangered Species Coalition also released a report last December listing Gunnison sage grouse as one of the most imperiled species in the country. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar released a report in March that found that western deserts and grasslands — home to Gunnison sage grouse and other sensitive species — are among the most degraded habitats in the country.

“We are keen to have federal protections in place, not only to protect this species in serious decline but also an important native landscape of the west that serves as its habitat,” Hilary White, director of the Sheep Mountain Alliance, said in a statement.

In addition to San Miguel County, Center for Native Ecosystems and the Sheep Mountain Alliance, organizations seeking to list Gunnison sage grouse under the ESA include Audubon, Black Canyon Audubon Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and WildEarth Guardians. The coalition is represented by attorneys with the Center for Biological Diversity, San Miguel County and Western Environmental Law Center.

“Gunnison sage grouse populations and habitat conditions have worsened in recent years,” Mark Salvo, director of WildEarth Guardians’ sagebrush sea campaign, said in a statement. “Listing would help recover the species.”

The Gunnison sage grouse is distinct from greater sage-grouse, identified by researchers as early as the 1970s and recognized as a new species by the American Ornithologists’ Union in 2000. While its historic range may have included parts of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona, the species now occurs only in eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Gunnison sage grouse have experienced significant declines from historic numbers and only about 4,000 breeding individuals remain. Livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling, motorized recreation, and urbanization have contributed to the long-term decline of Gunnison sage grouse.