NC-SC-G 97-107
Refer:
September 30, 1997
RECOVERY PLAN FOR RARE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY PLANTS AND ANIMALS AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW
Strategies for recovering 11 threatened and endangered species as well as 23 other native plants and animals in California's San Joaquin Valley are presented in a draft plan soon to be available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Service has also arranged a series of open houses in key valley communities for December. Service staff will be available by appointment for one-on-one discussions with interested citizens in conjunction with these open houses. Appointments may be scheduled by calling Karen Miller in the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office at 916/979-2710. The open house schedule is:
The ultimate goal of this recovery plan is to remove the 11 endangered and threatened species from the Federal endangered species list and ensure the long-term conservation of the 23 candidates and species of concern.
The 11 listed species include five endangered plants -- California jewelflower, palmate-bracted bird's beak, Kern mallow, San Joaquin woolly threads, and Bakersfield cactus; one threatened plant -- Hoover's woolly-star; and five endangered animals-- giant kangaroo rat, Fresno kangaroo rat, Tipton kangaroo rat, blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and San Joaquin kit fox.
Among the candidates or species of concern are 13 plants -- the lesser saltscale, Bakersfield smallscale, Lost Hills saltbush, Vasek's clarkia, Temblor buckwheat, Tejon poppy, diamond-petaled California poppy, Comanche Point layia, Munz's tidy-tips, Jared's peppergrass, Merced monardella, Merced phacelia, and oil neststraw -- and 10 animals -- Ciervo aegialian scarab beetle, San Joaquin dune beetle, Doyen's dune weevil, San Joaquin antelope squirrel, short-nosed kangaroo rat, riparian woodrat, Tulare grasshopper mouse, Buena Vista Lake shrew, riparian brush rabbit, and San Joaquin LeConte's thrasher.
Most of these species occur in arid grasslands and scrublands of the San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foothills and valleys. The riparian woodrat and riparian brush rabbit inhabit forested river corridors of the eastern San Joaquin Valley.
Approximately 95 percent of the valley's historic habitat has been lost because of conversion of native grasslands and scrub to cropland and other uses. Remaining natural communities are highly fragmented and some offer such marginal habitat that species may not be able to survive natural events like floods or drought. Furthermore, the introduction of non-native plants, which are now dominant in many of the remaining undeveloped areas, have permanently altered natural communities.
An ecosystem approach to recovery in the San Joaquin Valley recognizes not only the common origins and interrelationships of the natural communities, but also the fact that the entire region today is a landscape dominated by human activities. Accordingly, successful recovery will depend on the cooperation and collaboration of the various stakeholders, including private landowners, local governments and citizens, and state and Federal agencies. Moreover, since most of the species covered in the plan live in the same natural communities and their needs are intertwined, the protection of entire communities increases the likelihood of successful recovery for the listed species and will also decrease the need to regulate protection of the other plants and animals.
The plan recommends the establishment of a network of conservation areas and reserves representing all the pertinent natural communities. This network may not require land acquisition or easements as long as land uses maintain or enhance habitat. The plan also suggests that, whenever possible, blocks of conservation lands should be connected by natural land or land with compatible uses to allow for movement of species between blocks. Linkages are proposed both on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley and in foothills along the margins of the valley.
Greater emphasis is placed on two groups of species --umbrella species and keystone species. For example, since the San Joaquin kit fox has broader distribution and habitat requirements than the other species, actions to recover the kit fox will likely provide an umbrella of protection for many other animals and plants.
Similarly, keystone species provide important or essential components of the biological niche of other listed and candidate species. The giant kangaroo rat is considered to be a keystone species because its survival supports the existence of other wildlife and plants. Its burrowing activities modify the landscape and change the mineral composition of the soil, creating an environment for other endangered natives like the California jewelflower. In addition, the burrows of kangaroo rats provide refuge for many small animals. They are also the most abundant mammals in their community and are the favored prey of the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and other predators.
Six tactics are proposed to reduce the costs of recovery, the impact of recommended actions on the local economy, and the constraints placed on citizens of the San Joaquin Valley:
Finally, the plan recommends the establishment of a regional, cooperative public/private recovery plan implementation team to enlist the participation of all stakeholder groups and interested parties.
The goal of the Endangered Species Act is to recover species to levels where protection under the act is no longer required. Recovery plans are essentially blueprints for Federal and State agencies and private organizations, and do not obligate the expenditure of funds or require that actions be implemented.
Comments from the public are invited on this draft plan until January 28, 1998, and should be sent to the Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, 3310 El Camino Avenue, Suite 130, Sacramento, California 95821.
Requests for copies of the plan should be addressed to this office. Review copies will also be available at more than 100 libraries in 20 counties. A list of these libraries is available from the Sacramento office's External Affairs Division by calling 916/979-2710. The recovery plan is available through the Internet at http://www.r1.fws.gov.
The Service published a notice of availability of the Draft Recovery Plan for arid upland and riparian species of the San Joaquin Valley, California, in the Federal Register on September 30, 1997.
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EDITORS: Photos of select animals and plants featured in the San Joaquin draft recovery plan are available by calling Patricia Foulk or Donna Hummel at 916/979-2710.