Region 2

Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for the Lower Colorado River

In July, the Lower Division States/Tribes Endangered Species Steering Committee of the Lower Colorado River Species Program endorsed the development of a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the Lower Colorado River under section 10 of the ESA. The Steering Committee is composed of representatives from the U.S. Department of the Interior and from agricultural and municipal water, hydroelectric power, and wildlife interests in Arizona, California, and Nevada. As the HCP is developed, Committee members will consider the effects of water and power management on listed species and listing candidates within the mainstem Lower Colorado River and its 100-year floodplain. The goal is to manage wisely the variety of habitats along the Lower Colorado River, develop conservation agreements for listing candidates, and secure a permit for the incidental take of listed species during otherwise lawful activities.

Arizona willow

A conservation plan for the Arizona willow (Salix arizonica) and its habitat was completed in May 1995. This small, distinctive shrub willow occurs in certain high-elevation riparian ecosystems of the southwest. The commitment of all parties involved--the FWS, Forest Service, National Park Service, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources--resulted in exceptional cooperation. The conservation plan calls for actions to reduce site-specific threats and to improve and protect the species' habitat. The White Mountain Apache Tribe has developed a separate strategy, consistent with the conservation agreement, for management of the Arizona willow on tribal lands.

Attwater's Greater Prairie Chicken

Spring counts indicate that only three small populations of Attwater's greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) survive in the wild, with a total of 68 birds. Historically, an estimated 1 million of the prairie chickens occupied coastal prairie grasslands from southwestern Louisiana to the Nueces River in Texas. The species has been declining in numbers and range since the early 1900's, due primarily to the steady loss of prairie habitat. Literature on greater prairie chickens indicates that when isolated populations fall below 100 males, they will eventually disappear unless habitat is improved.

Efforts to recover Attwater's greater prairie chicken include habitat management (brush removal, modified grazing, prescribed burning), predator control, and captive propagation. FWS grants are funding cooperative management of habitat on private tracts. The Galveston Bay Coastal Prairie Preserve, a 3,000-acre site containing 16 birds, was donated in February to the Texas Nature Conservancy (TNC) by Mobil Exploration and Producing--U.S. The FWS will assist TNC in managing the site. Thirty-five adult birds and 65 young exist at 3 captive propagation sites: the Houston Zoo, Fossil Rim Ranch, and Texas A & M University. The first experimental releases of captive-produced males are expected soon at Attwater's Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge. A fourth facility is expected to join the captive propagation effort later this year.

Whooping Crane

As of early August, the world population of whooping cranes (Grus americana) stood at 330. Conditions this year at the species' breeding grounds in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada, are the worst of the past 5 low-water years. Nevertheless, the latest counts indicate that 47 pairs nested this summer, a great improvement over 1994 when only 28 of a possible 40-46 pairs initiated nesting. The low 1994 numbers may have been the result of poor food conditions on the species' wintering area in Texas.

Twenty-four eggs were transferred from the park this year to captive propagation sites in the United States, and 20 chicks are being reared from these eggs. Forty-two wild chicks were present at Wood Buffalo National Park in June. If the survival rate of wild chicks in 1995 is similar to that of 1994, biologists can expect 20 chicks to arrive at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas this winter.

Another 25 chicks produced by captive-propagation flocks are being reared at breeding facilities. Most of the chicks will be taken to the Florida reintroduction site this fall or winter to join the 23 birds surviving from previous releases. Although they are only 3-year-olds, one Florida pair constructed a nest this spring. The first egg production may occur next spring.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

Less than 50 years ago, the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) was abundant in the Gulf of Mexico. Populations were large enough to generate a synchronized reproductive effort (called an arribada) of an estimated 40,000 females nesting in one afternoon. This occurred in 1947 on the species' single known nesting beach, located at Rancho Nuevo on the northeastern coast of Mexico. Since that time, the Kemp's ridley has suffered one of the most dramatic declines in population numbers recorded for any animal. In the years 1978 through 1994, a single arribada rarely reached 200 females. Two factors were implicated in the massive decline: 1) extremely heavy egg poaching and 2) intensification of the shrimping fishery in the U.S. and Mexico, with consequent turtle drowning in shrimp trawls.

The cooperation between Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Pesca and Region 2 of the FWS over the past 18 years to protect and recover the Kemp's ridley is showing results, and is used as a model for international, multi-agency conservation efforts. From 1978 to the present, under a cooperative beach patrol effort involving both nations, nearly all nests were moved the same day to fenced, guarded corrals to protect them from predation. Adult turtles also are protected on nearly 100 miles of beach when they come ashore to lay eggs. As a result, the number of released hatchlings has been increased to a yearly average of 54,676 individuals.

Over one million hatchlings have been released from the corrals at the nesting beach since protection efforts began, but only recently has recruitment to the adult female portion of the population shown an increase. The numbers of adult females continued to decline (as indexed by numbers of nests) until 1985, but nesting has increased annually since that time. As of late July, 1,804 nests had been saved in 1995. The largest arribada this year numbered over 500 turtles and occurred over 2 days.

A definite corner has been turned in recovery of the species, but there is a long way to go before the species is again self-sustaining. Turtle excluder devices are now required by U.S. and Mexican regulations for all shrimp trawls used in the Gulf of Mexico. Trawling regulations and enforcement in the U.S. are under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of the Department of Commerce.

Region 3

Gray Wolf

Cooperative State-Federal monitoring programs in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula have documented continued increases in gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations. During late winter of 1994-95, there were 85 wolves in Wisconsin and 80 wolves in Michigan, compared with the 1993-1994 estimates of 54 and 57, respectively. These numbers do not include the population on Isle Royale National Park, which supports an estimated 14 to 16 wolves.

Pitcher's Thistle

This spring, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Chicago, Illinois, Field Office assisted the Morton Arboretum in planting threatened Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) seeds and seedlings on an Illinois state nature preserve. Over 1,400 seeds and 3 greenhouse- raised seedlings were planted. In 1994, two plants in the preserve flowered for the first time, and seeds collected from those flowers were among those planted this year. Seedlings have emerged from seeds planted in 1994 and six plants are blooming.

Niangua Darter

The FWS Columbia, Missouri, Field Office and the Missouri Department of Conservation are using the Partners for Wildlife program to assist landowners interested in protecting streams within the critical habitat of a threatened fish, the Niangua darter (Etheostoma nianguae). One recently proposed restoration project will protect water quality and a portion of the Niangua River riparian corridor by fencing cattle from the stream.

Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon

Some good news about birds of prey in Region 3: five new bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests have been established in Iowa and one new peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) nest in Illinois. The eagle nests are in Clinton, Jones, Hamilton, Sac, and Muscatine counties in Iowa, and the falcon nest is on a bridge over the Mississippi River.

Region 4

Gulf Sturgeon

When the Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) was listed in 1991 as threatened, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission began work on a management plan. The Commission's Anadromous Fish Subcommittee then offered to expand the effort to include recovery planning. In response, the FWS Panama City, Florida, Field Office formed a partnership with the Subcommittee and coordinated a recovery team that included representatives from the States (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida), the National Marine Fisheries Service, two conservation organizations, and a commercial fisherman.

The draft recovery/management objectives are to 1) stop additional losses from existing populations, 2) delist the fish once stable populations are reached (by river basins), and 3) open a limited fishery, under State regulation, for recovered stocks. A proposed plan has been approved by the Commission and is under review within the FWS and National Marine Fisheries Service.

Region 5

Karner Blue Butterfly

The FWS New England Field Office recently took a major step forward in protecting habitat for the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) in Concord, New Hampshire, by completing a Conservation Management Agreement with the City of Concord, The Nature Conservancy, and the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game. The agreement call for the cooperative management of more than 300 acres of pine barren habitat at the city airport. It establishes conservation zones where resource agencies will manage habitat to benefit rare species, including the Karner blue, and where no development will occur. In areas where additional airport development is planned, the city has agreed to work with the FWS to minimize impacts on rare species.