|
Tadpole Shrimp cont. or a County. A Habitat Conservation Plan is designed to try to accommodate both the resource needs and economic needs of everyone involved, including the project proponents, regions or counties, other regulatory agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Other efforts currently underway include: conservation easements with landowners allowing compatible land uses while retaining vernal pool habitat intact; the establishment of preservation banks and creation banks to preserve and create vernal pool habitat, respectively; establishment of National Wildlife Refuges; consultation with Federal agencies to reduce or avoid effects on threatened or endangered species; and research on the rearing and reproduction of this endangered crustacean species. Individuals, municipalities, and agencies also can help protect the vernal pool tadpole shrimp and other vernal pool species by preventing or reducing impacts to vernal pools, as previously mentioned in this article. But, by far, the most important thing we can do is to ensure that vernal pool tadpole shrimp have enough suitable habitat to be able to continue to hatch, mate and reproduce for the next million years. Then, hopefully, like us, future generations will also have the chance to marvel at this remarkable animal. As a child once responded when asked why we should save endangered species: "Because we can." Bradley Goettle is a biologist in the Endangered Species Division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in Sacramento. He has assisted in field research on the vernal pool tadpole shrimp, and since joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has conducted consultations on actions potentially affecting the vernal pool tadpole shrimp, assisted in revisions of the survey protocols to include dry season sampling as a means for determining presence/absence of federally listed vernal pool crustaceans, and is currently coordinating threatened and endangered species permit issues. |
Last updated:
May 27, 2008
|