Posted on 07/27/2004 10:04:07 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Federal wildlife officials agreed to grant protection to the California tiger salamander and its habitat, handing a major victory to conservationists but angering farmers and real estate developers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it will list the salamander as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act - a designation that makes it unlawful to harm the salamander and restricts development in its habitat, which is primarily found in the Central Valley, Central Coast and San Francisco Bay area.
"It's a huge conservation milestone because we're protecting one of California's most imperiled amphibians," said Kassie Siegel, a staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued to protect the species. "The California tiger salamander and its habitat are a critical part of California's natural heritage that will now be preserved for future generations."
Agriculture and business interests that had opposed the listing said they were disappointed with the decision, which will go into effect in about a month. The California Natural Resources Group, which seeks to reform the Endangered Species Act, said the ruling was based on "outdated and biased" information.
"The listing decision will impact critically needed infrastructure projects, affordable housing, school construction and farming activities," the group said in a statement.
In announcing their decision Monday, FWS officials said they plan to propose designating nearly 400,000 acres in 20 counties as the salamander's critical habitat, which may require special land management practices.
The tiger salamander populations in Sonoma and Santa Barbara counties, which are designated as endangered, will now be listed as threatened along with the rest of the state's salamander population. Threatened status offers fewer protections than endangered status.
Cattle ranchers will be exempted from the rule because stock ponds on cattle ranches have become important habitat for the salamander, which has lost 75 percent of its native habitat. The ranchers won't be punished if they accidentally harm the amphibians, said FWS spokesman Al Donner.
"We think the ranching operations will be a critical link to maintaining the species," Donner said. "Their normal ranching activities are helpful to the salamander, and we want that to continue."
The California tiger salamander is a black-and-yellow amphibian that grows up to 8 inches long and lives in grasslands, woodlands and vernal pools, where it breeds during the winter rainy season. The species has been threatened by urban sprawl and the invasion of non-native species.
Environmental groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, originally asked federal authorities to grant the salamander protected status in 1992. Two years later, the Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that such status was warranted, but the agency didn't have the resources to protect the species.
Monday's decision to list the salamander as a threatened species was spurred by a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2002, said FWS spokesman Al Donner.
The Fish and Wildlife Service was supposed to issue a rule to protect the salamander by May 15, but that deadline was pushed back after the Bush administration requested a delay for the protections, citing poor science. A federal judge ordered the agency to issue a listing decision by late July.
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On the Net:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: http://sacramento.fws.gov/
Center for Biological Diversity: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org
California Natural Resources Group: http://www.cnrgonline.com/
"But I think you should take a plane flight to Boston, rent a car and drive down the coast to Charlotte, North Carolina - that's far enough. Make sure you drive off the main roads like route 95"
Not many would dispute the fact that the east coast is, in general, an overpopulated cesspool, but the east coast isn't the sum total of this country (thankfully).
Try another drive--try the Indiana and the Ohio turnpikes. There is nothing except farms for miles and miles along those highways, and for miles on each side.
Plan to Save Salamander Would Label Thousands of Acres as Critical Habitat
KXTV News 10 - Aug 13, 2004
http://www.news10.net/storyfull1.asp?id=7821
More than 21,000 acres in San Joaquin County could be designated as "critical habitat" for the endangered California tiger salamander under a proposal made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The San Joaquin acreage would be part of 382,666 acres in 20 California counties the agency wants to earmark as critical habitat for the black and yellow amphibian.
Land designated as critical habitat is subject to a number of development restrictions, which can affect property values. Previous efforts to label land as critical to the survival of an endangered species have been strenuously opposed by property owners.
Under the Fish and Wildlife proposal, cattle ranchers would be exempted from the rules governing critical habitat. The exemption would be made because the salamanders commonly breed in stock ponds on cattle ranches.
The California tiger salamander lives and breeds in seasonal pools present during the winter and spring in the Central Valley, Sierra Nevada foothills and the Coast Range. During the summer months the creatures take shelter from the withering heat underground, usually in burrows dug by small mammals.
Numbers of the eight-inch-long salamanders have dropped dramatically in recent years due to habitat loss. It is estimated that between 75 and 95 percent of the original range of the creatures has been converted to either agricultural or urban use during the last century.
The California tiger salamander is a recent addition to the U.S. Endangered Species List, having been given the status in July.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is soliciting comments on the proposed critical habitat designation. Information on submitting a comment is available at the link below.
USFWS California Tiger Salamander Habitat Plan http://www.regulations.gov/fredpdfs/04-17464.pdf Story last updated Friday, August 13, 2004 - 3:48 PM
This stuff is enough to gag a maggot!!!
This Federal Register announcement is 80 pages in total; Partial text below:
[Federal Register: August 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 153)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 48569-48649]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10au04-36]
[[Page 48569]]
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Part II
Department of the Interior
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Fish and Wildlife Service
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50 CFR Part 17
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical
Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander, Central Population;
Proposed Rule
[[Page 48570]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 17
RIN 1018-AF68
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of
Critical Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander, Central
Population
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to
designate critical habitat for the California tiger salamander
(Ambystoma californiense) (referred to hereafter as the CTS) pursuant
to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This rule
contains the proposal for the Central California population of the CTS
(hereafter referred to as the Central population). Approximately
382,666 acres (ac) (154,860 hectares (ha)) occur within the boundaries
of the proposal for the Central population.
DATES: We will accept comments from all interested parties until
October 12, 2004. We must receive requests for public hearings, in
writing, at the address shown in the ADDRESSES section by September 24,
2004.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments and
materials concerning this proposal by any one of several methods:
1. You may submit written comments and information to the Field
Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento Fish and
Wildlife Office (SFWO), 2800 Cottage Way, W-2605, Sacramento, CA 95825.
2. You may hand-deliver written comments to our SFWO, at the
address given above.
3. You may send comments by electronic mail (e-mail) to
fw1Central_cts_pch@fws.govAh. SUCH a way with words!!! Always right on target.
Y'know, that's really not too long for a 'tag-line'... and, for the most part, I don't think you'd often be wrong, were you to shift that into 'full auto'.
I was gonna post another (eco-idiot) one tonight, but I see that I have already wrecked your evening.
...Hang in there. We need all the help we can get.
Great! ...Thanks!!!
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