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News ReleasesAugust 2 , 2005
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Description of the species: The California tiger salamander is a stocky terrestrial salamander with a broad, rounded snout. Adult males may reach a total length of 8.2 inches while females are slightly smaller, reaching approximately 6.8 inches in length. The dorsal areas of the salamander can have white or pale yellow spots or bars on a black background. The underside varies from almost uniform white or pale yellow to a varying pattern of white or pale yellow and black. Range: This species is restricted to California and does not overlap with any other species of tiger salamander. California Tiger Salamanders are restricted to vernal pools and seasonal ponds, including many constructed stockponds, in grassland and oak savannah plant communities from sea level to about 1,500 feet in central California. In the Coastal region, populations are scattered from Sonoma County in the northern San Francisco Bay Area to Santa Barbara County, and in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills from Yolo to Kern counties. The Sonoma population appears to have been geographically isolated from the remainder of the California tiger salamander population by distance, mountains and major waterway barriers for more than 700,000 years. Life history: Subadult and adult California tiger salamanders spend much of their lives in burrows of ground squirrels and pocket gophers. Once rains begin they emerge from their burrows at night to feed and migrate to breed at vernal pools, seasonal ponds or stock ponds. Adults may migrate up to 1.2 miles from their summering grounds to breeding areas. Males will remain in the breeding ponds for 6 to 8 weeks while females stay for about 1 to 2 weeks. Female California tiger salamanders lay eggs singly or in small groups. Of the 400 to 1,300 eggs a female lays per breeding season, only a few animals survive. Eggs are generally attached to vegetation near the edge of the breeding pond, but in cases where there is little or no vegetation, the eggs may be attached to rocks or other material such as branches on the bottom of the pond. It takes about 10 to 14 days for the eggs to hatch. Larvae feed on algae, small crustaceans and mosquito larvae for about six weeks after hatching. After that time the larvae begin feeding on larger prey including small tadpoles as well as many aquatic insects. California tiger salamander larvae reach maturity in approximately 60 to 94 days. In late spring or early summer the salamanders leave the ponds to seek out small mammal burrows to begin their dormancy. Q. What is critical habitat? A. Critical habitat is a term in the Endangered Species Act. It identifies geographic areas that contain features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management consideration. Designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve or other conservation area. It does not allow government or public access to private lands. Critical habitat applies only to Federal agencies or projects that have some Federal action, funding or authorization. It does not mean that projects cannot go forward; simply, Federal or other agencies must consult with the Service to make sure critical habitat is not destroyed or adversely modified. In 30 years of implementing the Endangered Species Act, the Service has found that the designation of critical habitat provides little additional protection to most listed species, while preventing the Service from using scarce conservation resources for activities with greater conservation benefits. In almost all cases, recovery of listed species will come through voluntary cooperative partnerships, not regulatory measures such as critical habitat. Habitat is also protected through cooperative measures under the Endangered Species Act including Habitat Conservation Plans, Safe Harbor Agreements, Candidate Conservation Agreements and State programs. In addition, voluntary partnership programs such as the Service's Private Stewardship Grants and Partners for Fish and Wildlife program also restore habitat. Habitat for endangered species is provided on many national wildlife refuges, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and State wildlife management areas. Q. Are all of the areas within the proposed critical habitat unit, including developed farmland and urban areas, considered habitat? A. No. The proposal only applies to lands occupied by the California tiger salamander at the time of listing, and which contain the essential habitat features needed by the species, and other lands determined to be essential to the conservation of the Sonoma population. When determining proposed critical habitat boundaries, the Service tries to avoid developed areas such as buildings, paved areas, extensive vineyards, parks and golf courses, and other structures that lack the essential features needed by the California tiger salamander. Any such structures inadvertently left inside proposed critical habitat boundaries are not considered part of the proposed unit. Q. How did the Service decide which areas to include in the critical habitat unit? A. The Service based the proposed critical habitat on historic and current range of the species as well as factors identified by the Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy Team. Historic records for the species and its habitat have been documented throughout the Santa Rosa Plain and into the Petaluma River watershed. Although the proposed unit includes areas that already are developed or are planned for development, those areas do not contain habitat features essential for the California tiger salamander and would not be considered critical habitat. Q. What are the essential habitat features needed for the California tiger salamander? A. To achieve conservation and recovery, the California Tiger Salamander needs: • Permanent or seasonal bodies of fresh water, including vernal pools, which hold water for a sufficient length of time for the species to complete the aquatic portion of its life cycle. • Barrier-free upland habitats adjacent to breeding ponds that contain small mammal burrows. The California tiger salamander depends upon underground burrows for food, shelter and protection from the elements and predation. • Upland areas between occupied locations, with small mammal burrows, which allow for dispersal among such sites. Q. How does the critical habitat proposal affect private and non-Federal landowners? A. The designation of critical habitat on non-Federal lands does not mean the government wants to acquire or control the land. Activities on private lands that do not require Federal permits or funding aren't affected by a critical habitat designation. Critical habitat does not require landowners to carry out any special management actions or restrict the use of their land. The Endangered Species Act, however, prohibits any individual from engaging in unauthorized activities that will harm listed wildlife. That prohibition is in effect for any Federally listed wildlife, with or without designated critical habitat. If a landowner needs a Federal permit or receives Federal funding for a specific activity, the agency responsible for issuing the permit or providing the funds consults with the Service to determine how the action may affect a listed species or its habitat. Q. Why does the proposed critical habitat include areas that are outside the zone identified by the Conservation Strategy Team and all of the built up areas of Santa Rosa ? A. In recognition of the ongoing local conservation planning, this proposed designation includes all occupied and unoccupied habitat in Sonoma County with the potential to support the California tiger salamander. Although we currently do not have the information to justify inclusion of these lands, we intend to rely on the public comments to assist in our determination of which of the lands not identified as occupied at the time of listing are essential to the conservation of the species. We believe this approach has two benefits. First, it will provide the maximum public comment on the benefits and potential contribution to California tiger salamander conservation from the maximum area available. Second, this approach does not undermine the local effort to encourage participation by local landowners and local government in the Sonoma County California Tiger Salamander Conservation Strategy. Our proposed designation is intentionally broad in order to identify all potential lands available to the California tiger salamander and so as not to unintentionally affect the local planning process. Further, we based the extent of the proposed critical habitat on historic and current range of the species as well as the Santa Rosa Plain conservation strategy. Historic records have been documented throughout the Santa Rosa Plain and into the Petaluma River watershed. Additional criteria used in refining the extent of the critical habitat were the specific soil types associated with habitat for the species and below the 200-foot elevation. Major water courses or floodplains were used to delineate boundaries where information on their location and extent was available. In addition, we used aerial photography to examine historic and current habitat as well as land-use patterns. We also reviewed available information that pertains to the upland and aquatic habitat requirements of this species. Based on the best available information, we included areas where the species historically or currently occurs or has the potential to occur based on the suitability of habitat. We identified areas that represent the range of environmental, ecological and genetic variation of the California tiger salamander in Sonoma County and contain the primary constituent elements (PCEs). In addition to avoiding influencing the local conservation planning process, due to the few currently known occurrences of the species in Sonoma County, we included the maximum area representing the historic range of the species with the expectation that the final rule would be significantly revised based on refinements resulting from development of additional information and public comment. Identification of the broadest possible proposal would be most likely to elicit information regarding the current presence of PCEs, the occupancy of identified habitat, and other information regarding the benefit of designating or excluding the habitat. We have included areas within this unit that are already developed or are planned for development. The developed areas do not contain any of the PCEs and would not be considered essential for the species, and we anticipate that public comment will help refine the mapped areas so as to avoid inclusion of areas that do not meet the definition of critical habitat. Undeveloped areas within and adjacent to developed areas that do contain the PCE features would be considered critical habitat for the species. Q. How does the critical habitat proposal relate to the Conservation Strategy? A. In the case of the California tiger salamander in Sonoma County, natural re-population is likely not possible without human assistance and landowner cooperation. Examples of such proactive activities that benefit the California tiger salamander include enhancement or creation of breeding ponds and control of nonnative predators. These are the types of proactive, voluntary conservation efforts that are necessary to prevent the extinction and promote the recovery of many other species. The California tiger salamander occurs primarily on private lands in Sonoma County. At the time of its listing, local jurisdictions, landowners, and developers were apprehensive as to how the listing would affect their activities. Local stakeholders including local governments, landowners and the environmental community met with the Service to discuss possible cooperative approaches to protecting the California tiger salamander and listed plant species (Sonoma sunshine, Burke's goldfields, Sebastopol meadowfoam and many-flowered navarretia. The goal of such an approach would be to develop an alternative to a critical habitat designation that provides special management for those physical and biological characteristics that are essential to the conservation of the species while allowing planned land uses to occur within the county. The potential result of the plan would be to avoid critical habitat designation due to the fact that special management or protection would not be necessary. Another potential result would be that the benefits from the local plan would exceed from the designation of critical habitat. Therefore, consistent with the Secretary of Interior's “4C's” policy, it is the Service's goal to identify and support innovative cooperative conservation approaches that have a similar or greater likelihood of providing for the conservation of listed species when compared to traditional regulatory approaches such as designation of critical habitat. In our determination of whether habitat is in need of ‘special management or protection' the Service will evaluate the Sonoma County draft conservation strategy for California tiger salamander in Sonoma County to determine whether its implementation is likely to occur and if so, whether its implementation will provide a similar or greater level of conservation benefits to the California tiger salamander in Sonoma County when compared to a final designation of critical habitat. The Service will evaluate whether the regulatory benefits of designating critical habitat outweighs the conservation benefits of implementing the alternative conservation strategy proposed by local public and private interests. In this proposed rule, we are soliciting public comment on the relative merits of a critical habitat designation when compared to implementing this alternative strategy. Q. How can I comment on the proposal? A. The Service will receive comments on the proposed critical habitat until October 3, 2005. Requests for public hearings should be submitted in writing to the address below. Comments may be submitted by any of the following ways:
Q. What is next? A. After the close of the public-comment period, the Service will analyze all comments and information and incorporate them in a final rule, which must be submitted to the Federal Register by Dec. 1, 2005 . |
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