Click Here to View the Recovery Plan
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a blueprint on how to bring six rare California native plants back from the brink of extinction. Found only in the central Sierra Nevada foothills, the plants grow primarily on the Pine Hill formation, a roughly 25,000-acre area in western El Dorado County. Isolated populations of two of these plants also crop up in Nevada, Tuolumne and Yuba counties.
A central component of the Recovery Plan for Gabbro Soil Plants of the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills is to establish a network of conservation areas and reserves of at least 5,000 acres, representing most of the important gabbro habitat in western El Dorado County.
This is the final version of a plan that was drafted in 1998 and amended in 2000. The draft plan went through an extensive public review process that included a variety of agencies, landowners and other stakeholders. The final version represents the Service’s position on how best to recover these species, but the plan can be modified as new scientific information emerges and recovery tasks are completed.
In general, recovery plans are blueprints for action by Federal and State agencies, other organizations, and citizens, and do not obligate the expenditure of funds or require that actions be implemented. These plans are developed under the goal of the Endangered Species Act to recover species to levels where protection under the act is no longer necessary.
Five of the rare plants covered in this plan have been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1996. Stebbins’ morning-glory, Pine Hill ceanothus, Pine Hill flannelbush and El Dorado bedstraw are considered endangered, while Layne’s butterweed is designated threatened. The recovery plan also addresses a species of concern, the El Dorado mule-ears.
Pine Hill ceanothus, Pine Hall flannelbush, El Dorado bedstraw, and El Dorado mule-ears are known to occur only in El Dorado County. Besides the El Dorado County sites, Stebbins’ morning glory can be found in Nevada County, and Layne’s butterweed grows in Tuolumne and Yuba counties.
These plants are found on Federal, State, and private land in chaparral or oak woodlands. They grow in reddish, clay-like soil derived from gabbro rocks, which are high in magnesium and iron. Habitat loss is the prime reason for the decline of these plants.
A significant portion of these rare plants have disappeared from their historic range. The remaining plant communities are highly fragmented, with many areas only providing marginal habitat. These plants are now in a precarious position. A single catastrophic event could wipe-out a population or an entire species.
Conservation efforts for the gabbro plants have been ongoing for more than 20 years, including the establishment of protected reserve areas and development of the El Dorado County Rare Plant Advisory Committee, with representatives from the development community, natural resource agencies, county planning staff, California Native Plant Society, and others.
The committee identified feasible preserve sites, funding mechanisms, and management strategies. Many of these have been incorporated into the recovery plan. The committee also recommended 3,500 acres of gabbro preserves in El Dorado County. To date, 2,647 acres have been protected. The three main preserve sites are Salmon Falls, Pine Hill, and Cameron Park. Two smaller satellite preserve areas – Martel Creek and Penny Lane – have also been established.
Besides the preserve system, recovery actions include the development and implementation of management plans, including provisions for fire management; surveying historical locations and other potential habitat where species may occur; conducting research to guide recovery efforts; collecting and storing seeds; and providing opportunities for public participation, outreach and education.
Interim goals of this recovery plan include stabilizing and protecting populations and conducting research necessary to refine reclassification and recovery criteria. The ultimate recovery goals are to protect and restore sufficient habitat and population numbers, ameliorate existing threats and identify and avoid new threats.
Copies of the plan can be requested by writing to the Recovery Branch, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W-2605, Sacramento, California 95825, or by calling the office at (916) 414-6600.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
