Endangered Species & Wetlands Report

White-nose syndrome confirmed in endangered gray bats, FWS announces

Posted by Steve Davies on May 29, 2012 Daily Links, ESA, FWS

May 292012

Female gray bat

For the first time, the Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in the endangered gray bat. The news release is posted below.

Click on the play button to hear a recording of an FWS teleconference that took place today (May 29).

Correction: The initial post of this item said it was the first time that the presence of WNS had been confirmed in an endangered species, but as the release notes, WNS has previously been found in endangered Indiana bats.

Gray bats were on the road to recovery before WNS was found to have afflicted them, said Paul McKenzie, FWS’s Endangered Species Coordinator in Missouri.

A map showing the breadth of WNS is below.

Some links

UT Professor Finds Economic Importance of Bats in the Billions (3/31/2011)
WaPo coverage (Darryl Fears)
McClatchy Newspapers (Renee Schoof)
Kingsport (TN) Times-News (Mike Castle)
Center for Biological Diversity news release
Bat Conservation International
FWS white-nose syndrome page

White-nose Syndrome Confirmed in Federally Endangered Gray Bats

May 29, 2012

Contacts:
Ann Froschauer 413-658-4493 cell, 413-253-8356 office ann_froschauer@fws.gov

Paul McKenzie, Midwest Endangered Species Coordinator, 573-234-2132 x107 paul_mckenzie@fws.gov

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has confirmed the presence of white-nose syndrome in federally listed endangered gray bats (Myotis grisecens) in Hawkins and Montgomery counties in Tennessee.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) has decimated bat populations across eastern North America, with mortality rates reaching up to 100 percent at some sites. First documented in New York in 2006, the disease has spread into 19 states and four Canadian provinces. Bats with WNS may exhibit unusual behavior during cold winter months, including flying outside during the day and clustering near the entrances of caves and mines where they hibernate. Bats have been found sick and dying in unprecedented numbers near these hibernacula.

This is the first confirmation of WNS in federally listed gray bats. White-nose syndrome had previously been documented in six hibernating bat species, including the federally listed endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). Significant mortality has been documented in many colonies of hibernating Indiana bats in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states. While no mortality has been observed in gray bats that can be linked to WNS, the confirmation that gray bats can be infected is cause for concern.

“The news that another federally endangered bat species, the gray bat, has been confirmed with white-nose syndrome is devastating for anyone who cares about bats and the benefits they provide to people,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “Bats provide tremendous value to the U.S. economy as natural pest control for American farms and forests every year. Research and management of this disease remains a priority for the Service, and we will continue to work closely with our partners to understand the spread of this deadly disease and minimize its impacts to affected bat species.”

The gray bats were discovered on two separate winter surveillance trips, conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Biologists observed white fungus on the muzzles, wing, and tail membranes of several bats. Specimens were collected, and the disease was diagnosed by histopathology at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) at the University of Georgia, and later confirmed the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

“The documented spread of WNS on gray bats is devastating news. This species was well on the road to recovery, and confirmation of the disease is great cause for concern. Because gray bats hibernate together in colonies that number in the hundreds of thousands, WNS could expand exponentially across the range of the species,” said Paul McKenzie, Missouri Endangered Species Coordinator for the Service. “The confirmation of WNS in gray bats is also alarming because guano from the species is an important source of energy for many cave ecosystems and there are numerous cave-adapted species that could be adversely impacted by their loss.”

The gray bat, federally listed as an endangered species in 1976, occupies a limited geographic range in limestone karst areas of the southeastern United States. With rare exceptions, gray bats live in caves year-round. Gray bats are endangered largely because of their habit of living in very large numbers in only a few caves, making them extremely vulnerable to disturbance. Cooperative conservation measures, such as restricting human access to critical gray bat hibernation and roosting sites, have been successful in helping gray bat populations recover in many areas.

The potential impact of white-nose syndrome on gray bats is still unknown. Visible fungal growth was observed on hibernating gray bats in both sites, but no other definitive field signs of the disease or mortality events have been documented. The findings of these studies will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication, and gray bat roosts will continue to be monitored for any indication of deleterious impacts.

“We are not sure what this diagnosis is going to mean for gray bats and the spread of WNS,” said Jeremy Coleman, National WNS Coordinator for the Service. “Increased vigilance and improved diagnostic procedures may mean that we have identified the very early stages of infection in a new species. It is also possible that gray bats have been exposed for a few years, but do not succumb to the infection. Individual bat species appear to respond differently to WNS, and only research and time will reveal where gray bats fit on the spectrum.”

The Service is leading a cooperative effort with federal and state agencies, tribes, researchers, universities and other non-government organizations to research and manage the spread of WNS. In addition to developing science-based protocols and guidance for land management agencies and other partners to minimize the spread of WNS, the Service has funded numerous research projects to support and assess management recommendations and improve our basic understanding of the dynamics of the disease.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service.

For more information about white-nose syndrome, visit www.fws.gov/whitenosesyndrome. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfwswns, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfws_wns, and download white-nose syndrome and bat photos from our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/collections/72157626455036388/.

For more information about the federally listed endangered gray bat, visit http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/mammals/grbat_fc.html.

-FWS-

NRDC sues to compel listing decision on dolphins known as “false killer whales”

Posted by Steve Davies on May 24, 2012 Court calls, Listings, NMFS

May 242012

The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., to force the National Marine Fisheries Service to make a final listing decision on a dolphin species whose population numbers less than 200 individuals (NRDC v. Bryson, 12-826, D.D.C.).

NRDC petitioned to list the insular Hawaiian population of the false killer whale in September 2009. The service proposed to list the DPS as endangered on Nov. 17, 2010.

The dolphin at issue (Photo by Doug Perrine, Seapics.com)

“[W]e have determined that the Hawaiian insular false killer whale is a distinct population segment (DPS) that qualifies as a species under the ESA,” NMFS said in the proposal. “Moreover, after evaluating threats facing the species, and considering efforts being made to protect the Hawaiian insular DPS, we have determined that the DPS is declining and is in danger of extinction throughout its range.”

In addition, NMFS said:

Reduced genetic diversity, inbreeding depression, and other Allee effects associated with small population size represent a high risk to current and future Hawaiian insular false killer whales. The current estimated number of breeding adults (46 individuals) is so small that inbreeding depression could have increasingly negative effects on population growth rate and other traits, including social factors (such as reduced efficiency in group foraging and potential loss of knowledge needed to deal with unusual environmental events), may further compromise the ability of Hawaiian insular false killer whales to recover to healthy levels.

NMFS described the “Allee effect”:

The decrease in per capita population growth as population size declines is often referred to as the ‘‘Allee effect’’ or ‘‘depensation’’ (see references in Oleson et al., 2010) . In essence, as the number of individuals decreases there are costs from a lack of predator saturation, impaired anti-predator vigilance or defence [sic], a breakdown of cooperative feeding, an increased possibility of inbreeding depression or other genetic issues, decreased birth rates as a result of not finding mates, or a combination of these effects. The Allee effect increases risk to small populations directly by contributing to the risk of extinction, and indirectly by decreasing the rate of recovery of exploited populations and, therefore, maintaining populations at a smaller size where extinction risk is higher for a variety of reasons (Dennis, 1989; Stephens and Sutherland, 1999). In addition, social odontocetes (such as false killer whales) may be particularly vulnerable over and beyond the numerical loss of individuals to the population (Wade and Reeves, 2010).

In its complaint, NRDC said, “Since the mid-1980′s the Hawaiian insular false killer whale population has undergone a substantial and pronounced decline. NMFS estimates that the historic abundance of this population was around 769 whales, with a lower limit of 470 whales. Currently, the best estimates of the population size are around 150 whales. This represents a dramatic departure from historic abundance. Evidence suggests that much of this decline has occurred over the past 10-20 years, and while some threats to the species are apparent, the reason for the decline is not known.”

Links

Honolulu Advertiser (5/23/12) (“The National Marine Fisheries Service recommended 18 months ago that the population be listed. Under federal law, the agency had one year to decide whether to do so.”)

Links posted on Glen Canyon operations teleconference

Posted by Steve Davies on May 23, 2012 Colorado River, Daily Links

May 232012

Click the button for audio of the teleconference with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
and Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle. (Give the file a few seconds to load.)

Press release (reprinted below)

Final FONSI (for high-flow experimental releases) and more documents

Final FONSI (for non-native fish control) and more documents

Salazar Announces Improvements to Glen Canyon Dam Operations
to Restore High Flows and Native Fish in Grand Canyon

Adaptive management strategy meets water and power supply needs

5/23/2012

Contact: Adam Fetcher (DOI) 202-208-2416, Lisa Iams (Reclamation) 801-524-3673

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that, as part of the Interior’s Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program, and in cooperation with five Interior agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation is approving two long-term research and experimental programs of high-flow releases and native fish protection to preserve and improve the Grand Canyon and its resources. Together, these decisions represent the most important experimental modification of operations of Arizona’s Glen Canyon Dam in over sixteen years.

The two programs authorize changes in flow releases from the dam to meet water and power needs, but also to allow better conservation of sediment downstream, more targeted efforts to control non-native fish predation, and continued scientific experimentation, data collection, and monitoring to better address the important resources in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.

“We’ve gained tremendous knowledge about the unique resources of the Grand Canyon in the Colorado River downstream of Glen Canyon Dam over the past sixteen years,” said Secretary Salazar. “Today’s decisions constitute a milestone in the history of the Colorado River and will provide a scientific foundation to improve future operations to benefit resources in the Grand Canyon, as well as the millions of Americans who rely on the river for water and power.”

The first program establishes a long-term protocol for testing high-flow releases from Glen Canyon dam to determine whether multiple high flow events can be used to rebuild and conserve sandbars, beaches, and associated backwater habitats that have been destroyed or lost over the years of the dam’s construction and operation. The experimental protocol will simulate natural flood conditions in order to provide key wildlife habitat, potentially reduce erosion of archaeological sites, enhance riparian vegetation, maintain or increase camping opportunities, and improve the wilderness experience along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. The protocol is designed to take full advantage of sediment provided by tributaries of the Colorado River as a result of rainstorms and monsoons.

The protocol for high-flow experimental releases applies scientific information gained in previous high flow releases in 1996, 2004, and 2008 and provides the necessary, flexible framework to conduct further experimental releases through 2020 to determine the optimal timing, duration, frequency, and conditions that will maximize ecological and riparian benefits downstream in the Grand Canyon. For more information on the program, click here.

The second program outlines a series of actions and research to control non-native fish and protect endangered native fish in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam. Conservation of native fish, particularly the endangered humpback chub, will be enhanced by reducing the threat of predation and competition from non-native fish and improving critical habitat. The actions will also ensure continued compliance with the Endangered Species Act and a Final Biological Opinion issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. Extensive government-to-government tribal consultations and analyses were conducted to ensure the required non-native fish control actions can be implemented in a way that respects tribal perspectives. For more information on the program, click here.

“Implementation of these two programs marks a huge step forward in integrating the management of a dam that’s critical to the delivery of water and power to millions of people in the Southwest with better conservation of the incredible values of the Grand Canyon,” said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle. “We are refining our operations to reflect what we’ve learned and address the concerns expressed by several Native American tribes about the management of fish at locations honored as sacred sites by many of the tribes and pueblos.”

The actions outlined in both detailed Environmental Assessments completed today include important scientific research and monitoring components that are fundamental to the adaptive management process. Reclamation has primary responsibility for operation of Glen Canyon Dam and the National Park Service has primary responsibility for Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

“The National Park Service is a strong supporter of high flow tests to help determine how best to rebuild and sustain the beaches and sand bars below Glen Canyon Dam. We appreciate the extensive collaboration required to develop these research programs which are critical to preserving the awesome resources and visitor experience along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park,” said Jonathan B. Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service.

Today’s actions represent the most comprehensive experiment for protection of the Grand Canyon since Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt signed a Record of Decision in 1996 and conducted the first high flow release. The experiments will help answer critical questions about the complex interactions between dam releases and resource responses, and also advance the goal of the Grand Canyon Protection Act to improve resource conditions.

###

Link

Glen Canyon Dam High-Flow Experiments Provide Insights for Future Flow Management of the Colorado River (2/8/11)

Critical habitat proposal for SE fish tweaked, analyzed for economic impacts

Posted by Steve Davies on May 23, 2012 Critical habitat, Daily Links, ESA, FWS

May 232012

FWS will accept public comments for 30 days on proposed changes to, and a draft economic analysis prepared for, its proposal last fall to designate critical habitat for five fish species in the Southeast.

The service’s reproposal will be published in the Federal Register Thursday, May 24. The draft EA is not yet available online.

“A change in mapping methodology” led the service to add about 6.6 river kilometers — about 4.1 miles — to its CH proposal for the yellowcheek darter (Etheostoma moorei).

” The beginning and ending points of critical habitat, as well as the unit descriptions (as described in the proposed critical habitat rule) will remain the same. The change in mapping results from an oversight in methods used for estimating the unit lengths in the other units proposed for designation as critical habitat. This methodology uses a better technique for following the curve and meander of the river channel and results in an additional 6.6 river kilometers (rkm) (4.1 river miles (rm)) for the yellowcheek darter. In addition, a revision to the ownership of one property resulted in a change of the total number of river kilometers (miles) in private ownership, from 148 rkm (92 rm) to 162.7 rkm (101.1 rm), as well as a corresponding downward revision to other ownership types.”

The following table shows the revised totals.

The other four species are the Cumberland darter (Etheostoma susanae), rush darter (Etheostoma phytophilum), chucky madtom (Noturus crypticus), and laurel dace (Chrosomus saylori).

In October, FWS proposed designating as critical habitat:

53 river miles (rmi) for the Cumberland darter in McCreary and Whitley counties, Kentucky, and Campbell and Scott counties, Tennessee
27 rmi and 22 acres for the rush darter in Etowah, Jefferson, and Winston counties, Alabama
98 rmi for the yellowcheek darter in Cleburne, Searcy, Stone, and Van Buren counties, Arkansas
20 rmi for the chucky madtom in Greene County, Tennessee
and 26 rmi for the laurel dace in Bledsoe, Rhea, and Sequatchie counties, Tennessee.

The draft economic analysis concludes that “incremental impacts of critical habitat designation are limited to additional administrative costs of consultations and that indirect incremental impacts are unlikely to result from the designation of critical habitat for the five fishes. The present value of the total direct (administrative) incremental cost of critical habitat designation is $644,000 over the next 20 years assuming a 7 percent discount rate, or $56,800 on an annualized basis. Water quality management activities are likely to be subject to the greatest incremental impacts at $273,000 over the next 20 years, followed by transportation at $161,000; coal mining at $79,000; oil and natural gas development at $73,700; agriculture, ranching, and silviculture at $36,100; dredging, channelization, impoundments, dams, and diversions at $10,700; and recreation at $10,000.”

FWS said it will submit a final rule by Oct. 12, 2012.

Go here for an image of the yellowcheek darter.

Permission for Cook Inlet seismic surveys
granted illegally, new lawsuit asserts

Posted by Steve Davies on May 17, 2012 Court calls, Critical habitat, Daily Links, ESA, NEPA, NMFS

May 172012

Complaint alleges NEPA, MMPA, ESA violations

A new lawsuit filed by Chickaloon Native Village, Natural Resources Defense Council, Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Water Advocacy alleges violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act in connection with the National Marine Fisheries Service’s issuance of an Incidental Harassment Authorization for seismic surveys in Cook Inlet (Chickaloon Native Village v. National Marine Fisheries Service, 12-102, D. Alaska).

Beluga whale (Photograph by Brian Skerry)

The Center put out a press release on the complaint, which likely will be amended to include charges under the Endangered Species Act. (The plaintiffs noted in a footnote that the ESA requires 60-day notice of intent to sue: “Plaintiffs sent such a notice to the Secretary of Commerce on March 29, 2012. Upon expiration of the statutory notice period, plaintiffs intend to seek leave to amend this complaint to add ESA claims against the defendants.”)

NMFS issued an inadequate Environmental Assessment and should have prepared an EIS, the complaint said:

Defendants failed to take a hard look at the impacts of the Apache IHA on marine mammals, particularly on the range of direct and indirect behavioral effects that can occur when marine mammals are subjected to sound levels that disturb foraging, habitat access, social organization, predator avoidance, availability of prey species, and other factors affecting reproduction and survival. Among these failures, Defendants dismissed the available literature on the impacts of anthropogenic noise, including airguns, on beluga whales, demonstrating the species’ abandonment of habitat over areas far greater than those assumed in Defendants’ analysis.

NMFS also did not consider the “cumulative impacts of Apache [Alaska Corp.]‘s survey, both from the entire three-to-five years of survey activity and in combination with other industrial activities occurring in Cook Inlet, which are increasing noise and chemical pollution in the same marine habitat.”

The service “failed to adequately consider socioeconomic impacts, including impacts on subsistence hunting caused by the airgun survey’s effects on Cook Inlet belugas and other species, and on subsistence, commercial and recreational fishing caused by its potential large-scale displacement of fish, for tribal members, subsistence users, and others in Cook Inlet,” the complaint said.

Excerpts from the lawsuit:

Defendants violated the MMPA, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1361-1421, by issuing an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) that authorizes Apache to repeatedly take beluga whales in their critical habitat, despite the fact that the MMPA limits such authorizations to “small numbers of marine mammals of a species or population stock,” requires no more than a “negligible impact” on species and stocks, and forbids “an unmitigatable adverse impact on the availability of such species or stock for taking for subsistence uses” by native peoples. 16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(5)(D)(i). Because of the significant risks to this highly endangered beluga population and its critical habitat, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, appointed by Congress to provide expert advice on the protection of marine mammals and the implementation of the MMPA, recommended in a letter to NMFS that the authorization not be issued. Defendants’ violations are compounded by their failure to fully consult with representatives from Chickaloon Native Village or the Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council pursuant to the MMPA and Executive Order 13175.

Defendants violated NEPA, 40 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4370, by issuing an environmental assessment (EA) that fails to take a hard look at the substantial and wide-ranging impacts of seismic surveys on the marine environment; consider and analyze all reasonable alternatives; identify and implement all feasible mitigation measures; and obtain information essential to the agency’s analysis. Defendants likewise violated NEPA by issuing a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for seismic surveys conducted by Apache based on the EA rather than preparing an environmental impact statement.

Third claim for relief targets MMPA compliance

From the complaint:

In addition, NMFS violated the MMPA by not ensuring — among other things– that Apache’s activity would have no more than a “negligible impact” on species and population stocks in Cook Inlet; (4) determine and ensure that the activity will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of such species and stocks for subsistence use; (5) set forth sufficient methods to ensure the least practicable impact on such species and stocks and their habitat, paying particular attention to areas of special significance; and (6) set forth sufficient requirements for the monitoring and reporting of impacts on marine mammals. 16 U.S.C. § 1371(a)(5)(D)(i); 50 C.F.R. § 216.107.

Defendants failed to comply with each and every one of these mandatory requirements and to make the requisite findings in a manner supported by the record, and therefore the IHA issued on April 30, 2012 is not legally adequate under the MMPA.

Defendants’ issuance of an invalid IHA and Apache’s subsequent reliance on that authorization will result in the unlawful taking of a large and unknown number of marine mammals, including the taking of endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales over substantial portions of their only remaining habitat. Because the authorization is invalid, Apache’s taking of marine mammals is prohibited under the MMPA. 16 U.S.C. § 1372(a).

Defendants’ actions are also contrary to Marine Mammal Commission’s advice and recommendations regarding “such steps as [the Commission] deems necessary or desirable for the protection and conservation of marine mammals.” 16 U.S.C. § 1402(a)(4). NMFS has failed to properly explain its substantial deviation from these recommendations, as required by the MMPA. 16 U.S.C. § 1402(d).

Background from the complaint

On September 21, 2011, NMFS published notice of its proposal to issue an IHA to Apache in the Federal Register. This notice indicated that Apache requested authorization to take by harassment beluga whales, harbor seals, harbor porpoises, killer whales, and Steller sea lions. 76 Fed. Reg. at 58485. Several plaintiff organizations submitted comments on the proposed permit indicating that, as proposed, it would violate the MMPA, ESA, and NEPA. . . .

On April 30, NMFS issued an IHA to Apache that authorizes it to take, by harassment, 30 beluga whales, 50 harbor seals, 20 harbor porpoises, 10 killer whales, and 20 Steller sea lions, over a period running from April 30, 2012 through April 30, 2013. Although the seismic surveys will be conducted over a period of three to five years, Apache applied for, and NMFS authorized, only a single year of surveys. NMFS did not publish the IHA for public review until May 11, 2012. 77 Fed. Reg. 27720 (May 11, 2012).

Partial screenshot of docket

Links

NMFS incidental take and incidental harassment authorization documents
NMFS Cook Inlet beluga information
Coverage in Alaska Dispatch
Associated Press via Google (Dan Joling)
NRDC blog by attorney (“Feds Agree to Protect Beluga Habitat in Alaska,” 4/8/2011)
NatGeo on belugas
NMFS Alaska Region news releases

2011 Apache Alaska Corp. Seismic Survey in Cook Inlet, Alaska

Day after approving natural gas project in Utah, Salazar, Ashe
meet with oil and gas reps, tout conservation plan for lizard

Posted by Steve Davies on May 9, 2012 Daily Links, FWS, Listings

May 092012

Leapin’ lizards, batman: The dunes sagebrush variety of this particular reptile is getting a lot of attention.

Make up your minds, already (Photo courtesy FWS)

The Washington Post’s Energy and Environment page has coverage of DOI’s approval of “a major natural gas project in Utah’s Uinta Basin that could develop more than 3,600 new wells over the next decade, while safeguarding air quality and assuring the protection of critical wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation values. The project will support up to 4,300 jobs during development.”

The quote is not from the Post’s story, but from DOI’s news release. issued yesterday (and reprinted below). In the Post, Steven Mufson writes that “the action doesn’t open any new land for production, because the drilling will take place on leases already owned by Anadarko. But the step by Interior assuaged some in Utah, where shortly after taking office President Obama had canceled 77 leases issued by President George W. Bush.”

In its Biological Opinion, FWS made a number of conservation recommendations regarding protection of — or avoidance of jeopardy to — four endangered Colorado River fishes. Or as they’ve been known all the years they’ve been swimming in endangered waters together, the Colorado River Endangered Fishes — Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, bonytail, and humpback chub by, which will be adversely affected by water depletions of up to 757 acre-feet per year.

One apparent difference between the DOI release and the Post story is the estimate of jobs created. DOI says 4,300, the Post quotes Anadarko as claiming creation of “as many as 2,900 jobs, directly and indirectly, during construction.”

But here’s DOI’s full explanation: “The new gas wells proposed under the plan would support an annual average of 1,709 jobs directly and 1,212 jobs indirectly. At peak development, the project would support 4,302 short-term jobs, and support an average of 875 long-term jobs over the production life of the project.”

It’s all in how you look at it.

Oddly, if you look at the Post’s E&E page, you won’t find a link to Juliet Eilperin’s story from just three days ago on the fight over the lizard’s conservation status: FWS is scheduled to decide in June whether to list it as threatened or endangered under the ESA. Mufson’s story, done from a political/economic point of view (and posted on the business page), doesn’t mention the lizard. Eilperin explores the lizard listing decision’s impact on a settlement the service reached with environmental groups to make decisions on hundreds of candidate species, including the lizard.

Here are the story’s first three paragraphs:

It wasn’t too hard for the Fish and Wildlife Service to decide the fate of 92 freshwater snails, or 17 dragonflies, or indeed more than 500 species over the past year. But when it comes to the dunes sagebrush lizard, trouble looms.

The small spiny reptile seeks refuge from the hot sun and potential predators in the shinnery oak dunes of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Ranchers have been clearing the oak shrubs, and oil and gas companies are drilling in the dunes. If the lizard is designated as an endangered species, some of those activities could be in jeopardy.

The lizard’s future is among the first in a series of wrenching tests threatening what has been a year-long cease-fire in the fight over endangered-species listings.

The article frames the upcoming deadlines — reached with Wild Earth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity in settlements agreed to last year — in the context of the big election in November.

The storm may start with the dunes sagebrush lizard, first listed as a candidate for federal protection in 1982. Since then its habitat has been reduced by 40 percent. Fish and Wildlife proposed listing the animal, also known as the sand dunes lizard, as endangered in December 2010.

The agency was set to issue a final decision a year later but delayed doing so by six months in the face of fierce congressional resistance. Now it must decide by mid-June what to do about the lizard. Some of its habitat overlaps with the oil-rich Permian Basin, which produces 17 percent of the nation’s annual onshore oil supply.

Permian Basin Petroleum Association President Ben Shepperd, whose group represents 900 oil and gas producers in New Mexico and Texas, estimates that the association has spent between $500,000 and $1 million on consultants who have conducted their own census of the lizard and challenged several aspects of agency’s listing proposal.

“The evidence does not point to a threat to this species,” Shepperd said, adding that his members fear this decision — along with ones on the lesser prairie chicken and spot-tailed earless lizard, also mandated under the settlement agreement — could restrict oil and gas drilling. “We think the impact is in the billions of dollars.”

In all, the settlements apply to more than 800 species, but the deadlines are spaced out over five years.

More lizard and settlement-related links

Proposed listing (Dec. 14, 2010) (and first reopening of comment period, 4/7/12)
NatureServe info on the lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus)
Feds Reject Protection for Rare New Mexico Flower (Wild Earth Guardians release, 4/26/12)
Final approved settlement agreement between FWS and WEG (5/10/11) and WEG settlement update from August 2011
Final agreement between FWS and CBD (7/12/11)

Snails, mentioned above

FWS reclassifies Tulotoma Snail (Tulotoma magnifica) from endangered to threatened (6/2/11)
Fws proposes listing Chupadera Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis chupaderae) as endangered, w/ CH designation (8/2/11)
FWS initiates status reviews on 32 Great Basin and Mojave Desert springsnails (9/13/11)
FWS reopens comment period on proposed endangered status and designation of critical habitat for the Three Forks springsnail (Pyrgulopsis trivialis) and the San Bernardino springsnail (Pyrgulopsis bernardina) (11/17/11)
Negative 12-month finding on frigid ambersnail (7/26/2011): “[W]e find that listing the frigid ambersnail is not warranted because currently living individuals that were identified as frigid ambersnails do not constitute a unique and valid, currently living taxon; therefore, it is not considered to be a listable entity under the Act.”
FWS designates critical habitat for Roswell Springsnail, Koster’s Springsnail, Noel’s Amphipod, and Pecos Assiminea (and proposed designation, 2/17/11)
FWS designates CH for Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (Antrobia culveri) (6/28/11) (and reopening of comment period on proposed designation)
FWS issues positive 90-day finding on 26 mollusks (snails and slugs) from Pacific Northwest (10/5/11)

Final listing rules from 2011 and from this year

Proposed listings and petition findings for this year (but don’t forget the March 21, 2012, reopening of the public comment period and announcement of a public hearing on proposed designation of critical habitat for the Southern Selkirk Mountains Population of Woodland Caribou)

Below (just because we can do it) is a screenshot of proposed actions for this year. Click here to access that page with working links.

Some more recent news:

May 8: “Settlement Will Help Prevent Sea Turtles From Drowning in Fishing Nets“ (CBD release, 5/8/2012):

The proposed regulation is intended to address sea turtle captures in skimmer trawls — fishing equipment, used primarily in bays and estuaries, that are currently exempt from using TEDs. TEDs prevent turtles from drowning in nets, but limited applicability and lax enforcement are thought to have led to thousands of deaths in 2010 and 2011. Currently, skimmer trawls can use tow-time restrictions instead of TEDs. Tow times limit the amount of time shrimpers can keep their trawls in the water, but evidence is mounting that even when these restrictions are followed, skimmers drown turtles. The proposed rule would abandon the tow time restrictions and require skimmer trawls, pusher-head trawls and wing nets to use TEDs.

May 3: Seahorse moves toward protection (Ctr. for Biological Diversity) Excerpt: “In response to an April 2011 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that the dwarf seahorse may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. The one-inch-long seahorse, found in seagrass beds in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean, is threatened with extinction due to decline of seagrass, commercial collection and lingering pollution from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Today’s announcement kicks off a one-year review of its status to determine if federal protection will be granted.”

Here’s the DOI press release on the Salazar/Abbey/Ashe visit to the Permian Basin:

Salazar, Ashe Emphasize Importance of Texas Energy Development;
Highlight Conservation Agreement for Dunes Sagebrush Lizard

Meet with Industry Officials in Permian Basin

May 8, 2012

MIDLAND, Texas – A day after showcasing a successful partnership in Utah between industry and the conservation community to protect environmentally sensitive areas while developing America’s energy resources, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe today met with oil and gas industry representatives to emphasize the importance of energy development in the Permian Basin and to highlight expanding voluntary conservation efforts for the dunes sagebrush lizard on the part of ranchers and the oil and gas industry.

“Expanding responsible oil and gas development is a top priority for President Obama and his administration as part of an all-of-the-above approach to American energy,” Salazar said during the meeting at a ConocoPhillips site outside Midland. “As we pursue this goal, I commend oil and gas operators in Texas and New Mexico for their voluntary participation in conservation agreements to protect this ancient landscape and I encourage their continued stewardship efforts as we pursue balanced energy development.”

In New Mexico, which contains 73 percent of the lizard’s habitat, 29 oil and gas companies and 39 ranchers are participating in a voluntary project to help conserve the dunes sagebrush lizard, which has been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If science shows that the lizard requires listing under the Endangered Species Act, landowners who have entered into a voluntary conservation agreement will receive assurances that no additional conservation steps above and beyond those contained in the agreement will be required. These conservation efforts now encompass more than 95 percent of the habitat area in New Mexico, with no known adverse impacts on energy development.

In February, the Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement (‘Texas Plan’) with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts that allows landowners – oil and gas companies and ranchers – to enter into voluntary conservation agreements that help provide certainty for development and protect the shinnery oak dunes that the lizard inhabits and that are characteristic of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. Individual shinnery oak plants are known to extend over dozens of acres and can achieve ages of more than 13,000 years. Approximately 70 percent of the habitat area for the dunes sagebrush lizard in Texas, which contains 27 percent of the lizard’s total habitat, has already been enrolled in the voluntary conservation agreements.

The Texas Plan was developed locally in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas A&M University, the Texas Oil and Gas Association, other state and county government agencies, local landowners, representatives from the ranching community and oil and gas operators and development companies in the area.

“It is good to see so many members of the oil and gas industry step up to the plate to voluntarily conserve this unique portion of the southern Great Plains,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “The scientists and professionals in the Fish and Wildlife Service will take these early, proactive measures into consideration in any final listing decision.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered in 2010 and is currently reviewing and analyzing public comment on the proposal in anticipation of a final decision in June. Under the law, the agency must make listing decisions based upon the best available science. The Fish and Wildlife Service had extended the timeline for a final decision to six months to allow the maximum time for scientific study and voluntary conservation efforts.

If the dunes sagebrush lizard is listed as endangered or threatened, the Texas Plan would act as a Habitat Conservation Plan for those companies and other landowners who participate, enabling them to continue to develop oil and gas while ensuring the long-term health of lizard populations.

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Greater Natural Buttes Project-BiOp.pdf

FWS to downlist wood bison

FWS to downlist wood bison Daily Links, ESA, FR, FWS, Listings Comments Off

May 022012

FWS will publish a final rule tomorrow (May 3) downlisting the wood bison.

For those not familiar with the terminology, “downlist” means “to change from endangered to threatened.” That’s my own definition; it may not be found in any reputable dictionary.

Just let me sleep (Photo from "The 'splorin' Wolfies" blog)

The service said it’s changing Bison bison athabascae‘s designation from E to T because there are more of the big fellows in the wild.

From the FR’s pre-publication version:

“This action is based on a review of the best available scientific and commercial data, which indicate that the primary threat that led to population decline, unregulated hunting, is no longer a threat and that recovery actions have led to a substantial increase in the number of herds that have a stable or increasing trend in population size. Critical habitat has not been designated because free-ranging wood bison only occur in Canada and we do not designate critical habitat in foreign countries.”

TABLE 1.—Sizes of wood bison herds in Canada from 1978 to 2008 (data provided by Canadian Wildlife Service).

Herd Category and Name	1978	1988	2000	2002	2004	2006	2008
Free-ranging, disease-free herds
Mackenzie	300	1,718	1,908	2,000	2,000	~ 2,000	1,600
Nahanni	-	30	160	170	399	400	400
Aishihik	-	-	500	530	550	700	1,100
Hay-Zama	-	-	130	234	350	600	750
Nordquist	-	-	50	60	112	140	140
Etthithun	-	-	-	43	70	124	124
Chitek Lake	-	-	70	100	150	225	300
Free-ranging, diseased herds
Wood Buffalo¹ National Park	-	-	2,178	4,050	4,947²	5,641³	4,639⁴

1 Excluding adjacent diseased Wentzel, Wabasca, and Slave River Lowlands herds.
2 Population estimate for year 2003.
3 Population estimate for year 2005.
4 Population estimate for year 2007.

May 2012
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Apr				Jun »
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

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White-nose Syndrome Confirmed in Federally Endangered Gray Bats

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Salazar Announces Improvements to Glen Canyon Dam Operations to Restore High Flows and Native Fish in Grand Canyon

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Salazar Announces Improvements to Glen Canyon Dam Operations
to Restore High Flows and Native Fish in Grand Canyon