Posted on 05/17/2003 8:19:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Edited on 04/12/2004 5:50:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
SUNOL, Calif. (AP) - A stocky, distinctively marked salamander with a penchant for spending summers chilling out in gopher holes is the newest California candidate for threatened species status.
Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday they want to add the California tiger salamander to the list of plants and animals entitled to special protections under the federal Endangered Species Act.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
A twofer. Is this an Endangered Species Act issue or Americans with Disability Act issue?
More targets of opportunity on the Sunol grade....
If you want on or off this ping list, let me know.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Sky Island Alliance filed a petition on 4-2-03 to protect the roundtail chub and headwater chub under the Endangered Species Act. Formerly occurring throughout the lower Colorado River Basin, the roundtail chub is now limited to 19 small tributaries of the upper Gila, San Pedro, Salt, and Verde rivers in Arizona and New Mexico. The headwater chub is limited to 13 small streams in the Gila, Salt and Verde watersheds.
Both fish species are threatened by competition with and predation by non-native fish and habitat degradation related to livestock grazing, water withdrawal, dams, and urban and agricultural development.
For more information click here.
PETITION FILED TO PROTECT BUTTERFLY IN MT, SD, ND, AND MN- SPECIES HAS BEEN ON FEDERAL WAITING LIST FOR 27 YEARS
On 5-12-03, the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Xerces Society, and Center for Native Ecosystems filed a petition to protect the Dakota skipper butterfly under the Endangered Species Act. Once widely distributed across the midwestern U.S. and south-central Canada, the Dakota skipper has disappeared entirely from Iowa and Illinois, and from much of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota
Conversion of prairie to cropland is the primary reason for the butterfly's decline. The Dakota skipper depends on high-quality prairie habitat for survival, and is also an important indicator of prairie health. Prairie habitat in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Canadian Province of Manitoba has declined by over 99%. Prairie habitat in North and South Dakota has declined by nearly 75% and the Province of Saskatchewan has lost over 80% of its native prairie. Gravel mining, road construction, domestic livestock grazing, herbicide and pesticide use, the spread of non-native plants, burning, and mowing are also taking a toll.
Like hundreds of other imperiled species, the Dakota skipper has suffered due to systematic undermining of the Endangered Species Act by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bureaucrats. The agency declared in 1975 that skipper was a “candidate” for Endangered Species Act protection. In 1978, it proposed to place the skipper on the endangered species list and designate five units of critical habitat in Minnesota. For technical legal reasons, it withdrew the proposal in 1979 and promised to reissue the proposal as soon as possible. Instead, the species has remained on the candidate list for almost 30 years while its habitat continue to be destroyed and its numbers plummeted.
SUIT FILED TO PROTECT ENDANGERED TROUT IN OREGON
On 3-24-03, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Oregon Natural Desert Association filed suit against the Malheur National Forest for allowing cattle to destroy endangered bull trout and steelhead trout habitat. The Forest has allowed cattle to pollute streams and destroy riparian areas on the Murderers Creek and Blue Mountain grazing allotments despite adopting a conservation plan ten years ago to stop the degradation.
For more information see the press release.
For more information on the Center’s Western Native Trout Campaign.
SUIT IN WORKS TO PROTECT ENDANGERED TROUT IN MT, WY, ID, NV, UT
On 3-20-03, the Center for Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Center for Native Ecosystems, Ecology Center and Pacific Rivers Council filed formal notice of intent to sue Secretary of Interior Gale Norton for refusing to add the Yellowstone cutthroat trout to the federal endangered species list. Once widely distributed throughout the Yellowstone and Snake River Basins in MT, WY, ID, NV, and UT, the Yellowstone cut has been eliminated from most of its historic range due to habitat degradation and competition/hybridization with non-native trout.
The impending lawsuit to protect the Yellowstone cutthroat trout is part of an ongoing campaign by a coalition of groups to protect native trout across the western U.S. For more information, visit the Western Native Trout Campaign's webpage.
CONSERVATION ALTERNATIVE FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NATIONAL FORESTS
The Forest Service is developing six alternatives management proposal for the six million acres contained within the Los Padres, Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland national forests. Alternative six will be based on the “Conservation Alternative for the Management of the Four Southern California National Forests," a comprehensive 400-page forest plan authored by the Center for Biological Diversity with assistance from the Sierra Club, California Wilderness Coalition, and others.
The Conservation Alternative is a scientifically based forest management plan that emphasizes the value of preserving species, ecosystems, habitat, watersheds, and wilderness as well as maintaining opportunities for low-impact recreation in the most highly visited national forests in the nation. The plan is available on our website, click here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.