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Fish and Wildlife Service To Provide Limited Endangered Species Act Protections for the Shovelnose Sturgeon
The Service has determined that it is necessary to treat the shovelnose sturgeon as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to its similarity of appearance to the endangered pallid sturgeon.
Under this determination, the shovelnose sturgeon will be considered a threatened species in the portions of its range where it commonly overlaps with the endangered pallid sturgeon. Due to the similarity of appearance between the two sturgeon species, identification of the protected pallid sturgeon is difficult in the field, resulting in pallid sturgeon being mistakenly harvested as shovelnose sturgeon. We believe this action will aid the conservation and recovery of pallid sturgeon.
The Service is also enacting a special rule that will prohibit the harvest of any shovelnose sturgeon or shovelnose–pallid sturgeon hybrids, and their roe associated with or related to a commercial fishing activity. The special rule will apply only to activities that relate to the harvest of shovelnose sturgeon and shovelnose-pallid sturgeon hybrids for commercial fishing purposes and is not expected to impact commercial fishing targeting non-sturgeon species, recreational or other non-commercial fishing activities. The special rule would not prohibit the legal commercial harvest of shovelnose sturgeon outside the range where the shovelnose and pallid sturgeons commonly overlap.
Grants Respond to the Spread of Invasive Mussels in the West
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will award nearly $600,000 in grants to nine projects to fight the westward spread of quagga and zebra mussels. As these invasive species spread to the Western United States, they can have devastating ecological and economic impacts on our natural resources, water delivery systems, hydroelectric facilities, agriculture, and recreational boating and fishing.
Invasive species are also among the primary factors that have led to the decline of native fish and wildlife populations in the United States.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Bureau of Reclamation will receive grants to assist in the early detection of these invasive mussels.
Endangered Species Act Protections Reinstated for Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Population
The U.S. Federal District Court in Missoula, Montana, issued an order on August 5, 2010, in Defenders of Wildlife et al. v. Salazar, CV 09-77-M-DWM and Greater Yellowstone Coalition v. Salazar, CV 09-82-M-DWM, which vacated the delisting of the Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the gray wolf. In compliance with this order, wolves are again considered endangered throughout the NRM DPS except where they are classified as experimental populations (southern Montana, Idaho south of Interstate 90, and all of Wyoming).
Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge Complex Draft Environmental Assessment and Land Protection Plans Available for Public Review
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to provide Draft Environmental Assessment and Land Protection Plans (EA-LPP) for three project areas in the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The draft EA-LPPs highlight the resource values; present alternatives that address issues and concerns that we, along with our conservation partners and the public identified; and evaluate the impacts that may occur if a conservation easement program is identified as a viable tool for conserving habitat for each project area.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Partners Provide $13.2M in Funding to Help Restore Fish Habitats
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will provide more than $3.3 million to support 68 fish habitat projects in 36 states across the nation under the National Fish Habitat Action Plan (NFHAP). An additional $9.9 million in partner contributions, over $13.2 million in total, will go toward restoring and enhancing stream, lake and coastal habitat, as well as to improving recreational fishing and helping endangered species.
Aquatic ecosystems are especially vulnerable to changes in climate. More than 40 percent of U.S. fish populations are currently considered declining, half of the waters in the U.S. are somehow impaired, and fragmented conservation efforts are not reversing these declines.
Besides climate change, principal factors contributing to these declines include: habitat destruction and fragmentation, toxic substances, invasive species, harmful algal blooms and altered thermal regimes.
These NFHAP projects are designed to help stem these declines and also enhance fishing opportunities for the public by putting more dollars on the ground for fish conservation.
Fish and Wildlife Service to Conduct Status Review of Whitebark Pine
The Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) may warrant federal protection as a threatened or endangered species.
Whitebark pine is a 5-needled conifer species and is distributed in Coastal Mountain Ranges (from British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, down to east-central California) and Rocky Mountain Ranges (from northern British Columbia and Alberta to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada).
Whitebark pine is ecologically very significant in maintaining snow pack and regulating runoff, initiating succession after fire or other disturbance events, and providing seeds that are a high-energy food source for many species of wildlife.
To determine if providing whitebark pine protection under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, the Service will conduct a status review of the species and is requesting scientific information from interested parties regarding whitebark pine and its habitat.
Scientific information will be accepted until September 20.
Listing of the Least Chub Under the ESA Is Warranted
The Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the least chub, a member of the minnow family endemic to the Bonneville Basin in Utah, should be listed as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The listing proposal is precluded at this time by the need to complete other listing actions of a higher priority. The least chub will be classified as a candidate species until a listing proposal can be prepared.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service investigations end in prison time and fines for wildlife criminals
Two investigations into violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) resulted in multiple convictions, prison sentences and monetary fines for the offenders convicted of shooting and selling eagles and hawks in North Dakota and Nebraska. Bald eagles are protected by the MBTA and the BGEPA. The killing, selling or bartering of an eagle is a violation of those acts.
The resulting sentences totaled more than ten years of combined prison time, five years probation and fines in excess of $10,000.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Special Agents investigated the cases and worked with the U.S. Attorneys Offices of North Dakota and Nebraska to bring the offenders to justice for a number of wildlife crimes and unlawful possession of firearms
Endangered Species Act Protection for the White-tailed Prairie Dog is Not Warranted
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it has completed a status review of the white-tailed prairie dog and has determined it does not warrant protection as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The Service made this finding after a thorough review of all the available scientific and commercial information regarding the status of the white-tailed prairie dog and the potential impacts to the species.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Availability of the Draft Economic Analysis and Draft Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Revision of Critical Habitat for the Preble’s Meadow Jumping Mouse
Service also reopens comment period for the revised critical habitat proposal and draft documents
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released a draft analysis of the potential economic impacts of a proposal to revise the critical habitat designation for the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse and a draft assessment of the environmental effects of the proposal as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Service is also reopening the comment period for the proposal to allow interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed critical habitat designation as well as the two draft documents.
Native Fish In Colorado and Utah Respond Positively to Endangered Fish Recovery Efforts
Endangered Colorado pikeminnow and other native fish in the Green and Yampa rivers in Colorado and Utah show a positive response to the Upper Colorado River Endangered Recovery Program’s efforts to coordinate water releases from reservoirs and to manage nonnative fishes.
Last fall, Recovery Program biologists reported a sixfold increase in the number of young-of-the-year (less than one-year-old) endangered Colorado pikeminnow collected last summer compared to the average catch in the previous 18 years. That information is specific to a 120-mile reach of the middle Green River below Dinosaur National Monument in northeast Utah.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service rejects black-footed ferret population reclassification petition
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced it has denied a petition, filed pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act, to reclassify three black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) populations under the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act Protection for the Susan’s Purse-making Caddisfly Is Not Warranted
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a status review of Susan’s purse-making caddisfly, a small moth-like insect, and has determined it does not warrant protection as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
Susan’s purse-making caddisfly has only been documented at three sites: Trout Creek Spring in Chaffee County, Colorado; High Creek Fen in Park County, Colorado; and Jaramillo Creek in Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico.
The Service assessed potential impacts to Susan’s purse-making caddisfly including grazing, hazardous fuels reduction using prescribed burns and logging, roads, dewatering of spring habitats, recreational activities, climate change, collection, disease or predation, the inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms, genetic effects from small population size, and naturally occurring random events. The Service does not believe Susan’s purse-making caddisfly is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range because of current or future impacts.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Review Status of the Wolverine
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has initiated a status review of the wolverine to determine whether the species warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The status review will examine potential wolverine populations in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
The Service is seeking the latest scientific and commercial information on the status of the wolverine from the public, government agencies, tribes, industry and the scientific and conservation communities. After gathering and analyzing this information, the Service will determine whether to propose adding the wolverine to the federal list of threatened and endangered species. Information will be received until May 17, 2010.
Fish and Wildlife Service to Conduct Status Review of the Northern Rocky Mountain Population of Fisher
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently determined that the Northern Rocky Mountain distinct population of the fisher may warrant federal protection as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The Northern Rocky Mountain population area includes portions of northern Idaho, western Montana, and northwestern Wyoming.
The Service is undertaking a thorough review of the Northern Rocky Mountain population of fisher to determine if federal protection is warranted.
To ensure this review is comprehensive, the Service is soliciting information from state and federal natural resource agencies and all interested parties regarding the fisher and its habitat. Scientific information will be accepted until June 15, 2010
Endangered Species Act Protection for the Wyoming Pocket Gopher is Not Warranted
The Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a status review of the Wyoming pocket gopher and has determined it does not warrant protection as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
The Service assessed potential impacts to the Wyoming pocket gopher including energy development, road construction and use, the proliferation of non-native plant species, climate change and has determined that these impacts do not threaten the long-term persistence of the species.
The Wyoming pocket gopher occupies an extremely small range, both historically and presently. In fact, the known distribution of the species is restricted to Sweetwater and Carbon Counties in Wyoming.
Critical Habitat Designated for the Salt Creek Tiger Beetle
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated approximately 1,933 acres of land in Lancaster and Saunders Counties, Nebraska, as critical habitat for the endangered Salt Creek tiger beetle.
The four areas designated as critical habitat are: (1) Upper Little Salt Creek North in Lancaster County, (2) Little Salt Creek – Arbor Lake in Lancaster County, (3) Little Salt Creek – Roper in Lancaster County, and (4) Rock Creek – Jack Sinn Wildlife Management Area in Lancaster and Saunders Counties. Saline wetland and stream complexes found along Little Salt Creek and Rock Creek comprise the critical habitat designation.
Critical habitat is a term defined in the Endangered Species Act. It identifies geographic areas containing features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management considerations or protection.
Interior Expands Common-Sense Efforts to Conserve Sage-Grouse Habitat in the West
After a thorough analysis of the best available scientific information, the Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that the greater sage-grouse warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, the Service has determined that proposing the species for protection is precluded by the need to take action on other species facing more immediate and severe extinction threats.
As a result, the greater sage-grouse will be placed on the list of species that are candidates for Endangered Species Act Protection. The Service will review the status of the species annually, as it does with all candidate species, and will propose the species for protection when funding and workload priorities for other listing actions allow.
Evidence suggests that habitat fragmentation and destruction across much of the species’ range has contributed to significant population declines over the past century. If current trends persist, many local populations may disappear in the next several decades, with the remaining fragmented population vulnerable to extinction.
However, the sage-grouse population as a whole remains large enough and is distributed across such a large portion of the western United States that the needs of other species facing more immediate and severe threat of extinction must take priority.
Also included in this finding are two additional and related actions: (1) whether there is a western subspecies of greater sage-grouse; and (2) if the sage-grouse populations in the Bi-State area of California and Nevada quality as Distinct Population Segments (DPS) and if they warrant listing.
Endangered Species Act Protection for the American Pika Is Not Warranted
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed an in-depth scientific status review of the American pika to determine if the species should be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
We analyzed potential factors that may affect the habitat or range of the pika including climate change, livestock grazing, invasive plant species and fire suppression and determined climate change to be the primary threat to the species.
To help us understand and forecast the potential impacts of climate change on pika populations in the western United States, we worked with NOAA to develop local-scale models to help predict the variables in surface temperatures that could affect pika populations.
Using this information, we conducted a risk assessment to determine if increased surface temperatures would affect the pika and found that although the American pika could potentially be impacted by climate change, we believe the species as a whole will be able to survive despite higher temperatures in a majority of its range. We believe the pika will have enough high elevation habitat to ensure its long-term survival.
Based on this information, we do not believe the American pika is in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future.
Efforts Made to Reduce Oil, Bird Encounters
A broad-based cooperative effort among state and federal agencies and corporate entities is helping to reduce the number of deaths of migratory birds and other wildlife resulting from being attracted to oil field waste pits. Many operators have taken preventive measures to reduce the loss, currently estimated at least a half-million annually.
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