NC-SC-G 97-104
Refer:
September 30, 1997
SERVICE SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON PLAN TO RECOVER EIGHT COASTAL CALIFORNIA SPECIES
A draft recovery plan for seven threatened and endangered plants and an endangered butterfly found along the California coast from the Monterey Peninsula north to Humboldt Bay is ready for public review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.
Six of the plants -- Howell's spineflower, Sonoma spineflower, Menzies' wallflower, Monterey gilia, beach layia, and Tidestrom's lupine -- and Myrtle's silverspot butterfly were federally listed as endangered in 1992. The Service designated the Monterey spineflower as threatened in 1994.
The plants and the butterfly live in coastal sand dunes and adjacent sandy scrub and grassland communities. Many populations have been lost to invasive non-native plant competition, commercial and residential development, off-road vehicle use, cattle grazing, and trampling by hikers and equestrians. These threats persist. In addition, overcollecting puts the Myrtle's silverspot butterfly at risk.
The spineflowers are annual herbs in the buckwheat family. Howell's spineflower can spread up to almost 20 inches in diameter, but rarely grows taller than 4 inches. Its small white to rose colored flowers appear from May through July. Biologists know of only three existing populations totaling less than 24,000 plants, most within MacKerricher State Park in Mendocino County.
Only one population of the Sonoma spineflower, about 30,000 individual plants, is currently known to exist only near Abbott's Lagoon in Point Reyes National Seashore. This plant reaches a height of 10 inches and spreads up to 20 inches in diameter, with white to lavender or rose colored flowers.
Larger than these other spineflowers, the Monterey spineflower can reach a height of almost 8 inches and can sprawl over an approximate 40-inch area. The plant is restricted to the Monterey Peninsula northward along the coast to southern Santa Cruz County and inland to the Salinas Valley. There are seven known populations with a liberal overestimate of 14 million individuals largely on the Fort Ord property.
A biennial in the mustard family with clusters of rich yellow flowers, Menzies' wallflower occurs in seven isolated populations, along the Monterey Peninsula and two Mendocino County populations from Ten Mile River south to Fort Bragg, with no more than 700 individual plants.
Monterey gilia is also listed as threatened by the State of California. The plant is less than seven inches tall and displays distinct funnel-shaped flowers with narrow petal lobes and a narrow, purple throat. Plants are distributed from Spanish Bay on the Monterey Peninsula north to Moss Landing. Population estimates now stand at 110,000 individual plants in 15 known natural occurrences and an experimental replacement site that is mitigation for golf course development.
A succulent plant in the sunflower family, beach layia can grow up to six inches tall. Its notable characteristics include fleshy leaves, white and yellow flowers, and bristles around the top of its one-seeded fruit. There are 19 known populations, about 300,000 plants. The largest populations are in Humboldt County with a few scattered populations in Monterey County. The plant also occurs in Marin County at Point Reyes National Seashore and at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
Blue and lavender flowers coiled in dense clusters are a hallmark of Tidestrom's lupine. Below the surface of the sand the underground stems of this creeping perennial member of the pea family are greatly helping to stabilize the dunes. Less than 500 individual plants show up from the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County northward to the south bank of the Russian River near its mouth in Sonoma County.
Myrtle's silverspot is a member of the brush-footed butterfly family. The wings of this medium-sized butterfly feature orange and brown markings with black veins and spots on the upper surface with bright metallic silver spots below.
Historically Myrtle's silverspot were seen from coastal San Mateo County north to Jenner Beach in Sonoma County. By the late 1970's, however, populations south of the Golden Gate Bridge were believed to be extinct and biologists now think that Myrtle's silverspot only remains in Marin and Sonoma County. There are three known populations -- about 10,000 butterflies. The silverspot's primary source of food is the western dog violet, and its survival depends on the presence of this larval host plant and availability of adult nectar sources.
Public lands provide habitats for several populations of species in this plan, including those under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Parks and Recreation, National Park Service, Department of Defense, and Bureau of Land Management. Several populations are currently managed for species preservation. Some land management agencies have developed management plans, but have not yet implemented the recommended actions. Several of the endangered plant populations and one silverspot population occur on private lands. Some are protected through conservation easements.
The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to recover species to levels where protection under the act is no longer necessary. Recovery plans, which are blueprints for action by Federal and State agencies and private organizations, do not obligate the expenditure of funds or require that actions be implemented.
The most immediate threat to all these species is invasive non-native plants, thus aggressive programs must be implemented to control these exotics on public lands and to motivate private landowners to control the invaders on their properties. Among other actions needed to prevent extinction of the plants and the butterfly is the protection of their habitat on private lands in collaboration with willing sellers and landowners.
In addition, poaching is a problem for the butterfly and deterrents such as law enforcement patrols during the butterfly's peak flight season may be essential. Moreover, managing existing populations, monitoring populations and threats, and making the public more aware of the plight of these native species to encourage potential partners in this cooperative recovery effort are all critical to reaching the plan's conservation objectives and the ultimate goal of restoring populations to levels where Endangered Species Act protection is no longer necessary.
Comments on the draft recovery plan are invited until December 29, 1997, and should be mailed to the Field Supervisor, Ventura Field Office, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, California 93003. Copies of the plan are also available from this office.
The Service published a notice of the availability of the draft recovery plan for the seven coastal California plants and the Myrtle's silverspot butterfly in the Federal Register on September 30, 1997.
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