Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Letts Lake, Mendocino National Forest (©Pamela Flick/Defenders)

Pamela Flick, California Representative

From the thundering rapids of Cache Creek to the snow-capped peak of Snow Mountain, northern California’s somewhat undiscovered Berryessa Snow Mountain region is home to iconic wildlife, including the rare and elusive Pacific fisher, thriving elk herds and one of our state’s largest wintering populations of bald eagles. Visitors from nearby Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area encounter scenic vistas and a wide variety of rare species found nowhere else on Earth, thanks to the region’s distinctive geology.

Indeed, this rich landscape provides habitat for so many plants and animals – among them some of the most unique butterflies and dragonflies in the state – that it has been identified as a “biodiversity hotspot.” The lands between Lake Berryessa and Snow Mountain make up one of the largest tracts of relatively undisturbed public lands in the state, providing invaluable space for wildlife to roam. Spanning nearly 100 miles in length from north to south, and ranging from near sea level to over 7,000 feet in elevation, this landscape includes habitats at such a wide variety of altitudes and latitudes that it also presents an important opportunity for species to adapt as the climate continues to change.

Building on overwhelming support from a wide array of stakeholders – from business owners to local elected officials, wildlife enthusiasts to mountain bikers – Representatives Mike Thompson, John Garamendi, Jared Huffman, Anna Eshoo and Ami Bera, along with Senator Barbara Boxer, recently introduced the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Act (H.R. 1025/S. 483) “to conserve, protect and enhance for the benefit of present and future generations the ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational, and scientific resources of the lands.” These bills would designate nearly 350,000 acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a National Conservation Area.

Fishers, an elusive and imperiled species, make their home in the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.

With nearby metropolitan areas expected to gain millions of new residents within the next decade, roads and development threaten to fragment this largely unbroken expanse and limit wildlife movement. The impacts of poorly managed recreation can also threaten important habitat. Protecting the Berryessa Snow Mountain region will safeguard the natural beauty, sensitive areas and the plants and animals that make their homes in this unique landscape. Protection will also secure existing recreation opportunities like hiking, boating, camping and horseback riding, while providing well-managed recreation experiences for residents and visitors alike.

Permanent protection for the Berryessa Snow Mountain region isn’t just good for the environment and wildlife, it’s also good for the economy. The outdoor recreation industry supports more than 400,000 California jobs and generates $46 billion (yes, that’s billion with a b!) of economic activity in the Golden State every year. Protecting our special places encourages tourism, supports local businesses and creates desirable places to live and work. Riffing on the old adage, protect it and they will come!

From meeting with key decision-makers to hosting town hall meetings with our conservation partners to engage local community stakeholders, Defenders is committed to continuing our work to support permanent protection of the Berryessa Snow Mountain region to ensure that wildlife as well as future generations benefit from this unique and diverse landscape just as we do today.

Sierra Nevada habitat (©Pam Flick/Defenders of Wildlife)

Pamela Flick, California Representative

Good news! Three rare amphibians in the Sierra Nevada are set to hop onto the list of endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in late April that the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae) and northern distinct population segment of mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa) have been proposed for endangered species status, while the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus) may receive threatened species classification. More than two million acres of critical habitat may also be designated to help protect these species in their high elevation territory.

Mountain yellow-legged frog (©Jason King/USFS)

Until recently, the yellow-legged frogs in the Sierra Nevada were believed to be the same species, but they actually took different genetic roads around 2.2 million years ago. These species were historically described as extremely abundant, but today are absent from more than 92 percent of their historic range. The Yosemite toad is currently found in less than half of its former territory.

A majority of the high elevation habitat for these frogs and toads – from 4,500 to 12,000 feet above sea level – is found on public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service. While these are both federal agencies, their management regimes are quite different. The National Park Service has a robust conservation mission and as such, national park lands have much stronger protections than national forests, where under their multiple use mandate, activities such as timber harvesting, livestock grazing and off-road vehicle use can destroy important habitat. Not surprisingly, populations of these Sierran amphibians have persisted in greater numbers and distribution in the more protected national parks compared to the surrounding lands managed by the Forest Service.

So why are these once common and widespread frogs and toads now dangling so precariously on the edge of extinction? A wide variety of factors have contributed to their decline. As with so many species disappearing around the world, habitat loss and fragmentation are key threats to wildlife. Dams and water diversions, road building, timber harvest and recreational use all lead to loss of habitat as well. Climate change and long-term drought also threaten these highly water-dependent species.

Grazing livestock damage these amphibians’ vital habitat. (©Pam Flick/Defenders of Wildlife)

We also lose individual frogs and toads due to predation; non-native bullfrogs eat them, as do fish. This can become a bigger problem when trout are intentionally stocked in historically fishless high elevation lakes and streams, introducing more predators to an area where frogs and toads have had few in the past. Another key threat is disease, including the chytrid fungus, Batrachochuytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which has been strongly associated with dramatic amphibian declines worldwide.

The Yosemite toad has been hit especially hard by more than a century of unsustainable livestock grazing practices. The high elevation meadows and streamside systems that these toads prefer are extremely sensitive to disturbance. Livestock often congregate in and near sensitive water sources, trampling stream banks and causing wet meadows to lose water critical to the toad’s survival. Approximately one-third of all known Yosemite toad habitat is within active Forest Service grazing areas. Despite the fact that there has been a reduction of livestock allowed in these areas, the damage has been done, and the meadows continue to suffer from eroded channels, bare patches from heavy trampling and grazing, altered plant composition and reduced plant production.

Yosemite toad (©Pam Flick/Defenders of Wildlife)

Designation of more than two million acres of critical habitat for these frogs and toads will go a long way toward protecting them. This designation will include lands and waters essential to the conservation of the species and may require special management considerations or protection. But it’s important to note that critical habitat only means that we have to ensure actions taken by federal agencies will not destroy key habitat needed by these species. The designation does not affect land ownership, and continued grazing and habitat development could continue to be an obstacle to these species’ recovery.

Defenders strongly supports the proposed protections for these rapidly declining amphibian species to pull them back from the brink of extinction. We have been leaders in helping to revise national forest plans in the Sierra Nevada to better account for the role of wildlife, and our collaborative work on the Dinkey Landscape Restoration Project on the Sierra National Forest includes some of the lands proposed as critical habitat. We hope that by making their native range a safer place to live, we’ll be helping the Yosemite toad and yellow-legged frogs edge closer to recovery.

Assemblymember Pan speaks about how a ban on lead ammunition will benefit the state of California. (©Pam Flick)

Kim Delfino, California Program Director

Yesterday, we took one more important step in the effort to protect wildlife and human health from the toxic effects of lead ammunition. The California Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee passed a bill, by a vote of 9-5, that would require the use of non-lead ammo for all hunting in the state, putting California well on its way to being the first state to enact non-lead ammunition requirements.

The committee vote came one day after the bill’s authors, Assemblymember Anthony Rendon and Assemblymember Richard Pan, stood on the steps of the State Capitol with a scientist, a hunter, a veterinarian and Tesla the golden eagle, to outline why it is critical for California to remove lead from ammunition used to hunt wildlife. “Lead is a toxicant that is bad for human health and the environment, and lead ammunition exposes humans and other animals to this life-threatening poison,” said Assemblymember Rendon.

Lead is a known toxin that we have already removed from everything from paint to gasoline to pencils to pipes. Fifty years of scientific research has shown that the presence of lead in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of the general public and the viability of the state’s wildlife, including the California condor, bald eagle and golden eagle. Dr. Don Smith, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology at UC Santa Cruz stated, “Lead based ammunition is likely the greatest, largely unregulated source of lead knowingly discharged into the environment in the U.S.”

Assemblymembers Pan and Rendon, creators of the bill, with Tesla, a golden eagle. (©Pam Flick)

Lead bullets fragment into tiny pieces when they hit an animal during hunting. These small lead fragments are then easily digested by humans as well as wildlife that eat the gut pile of dead animals. Animals also ingest lead when foraging in fields and pick up spent ammunition mistakenly. These lead fragments are highly toxic in the humans and animals that digest them. In humans, exposure to lead causes brain damage, learning problems and slowed growth and, for children, no amount of lead exposure is allowable. In wildlife, lead poisoning causes an agonizing death through paralysis and starvation.

Given the toxic threat from lead ammunition, there is no legitimate reason to oppose the use of non-lead ammunition when non-lead alternatives are available, effective and comparative in price with lead ammunition. As Assemblymember Mike Gatto stated in the committee hearing, “This is the right thing to do. We don’t hunt with poisoned darts for a reason and we shouldn’t use toxic ammunition for hunting.”

Former Fish and Game Commissioner and an avid hunter Judd Hanna testified in support of the bill in committee. Mr. Hanna was one of 27 distinguished hunters from California – including the current President and Vice President of the Fish and Game Commission – who sent a letter in support of the bill because they believe it is a reasonable and prudent solution to a public health and environmental threat. Defenders has been working on this issue for years, is a sponsor of this bill, and one of the organizations leading a broad coalition working to pass it. Now we’ve secured a majority of the members of the California Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee to vote to ban this toxic substance. Let’s hope the full California Assembly embraces the cause as well. Stay tuned.

Kim Delfino, California Program Director

Bald eagle, ©Wes Gibson

Who do you think we should be listening when it comes to wildlife policy? Scientists or lead ammo lobbyists? That’s the key question confronting the California state legislature as it considers a bill requiring the use of non-lead ammunition for hunting.

Lead ammo poses a significant threat to wildlife, not the least of which is the imperiled California condor. Hunters shoot their prey with lead ammo and carrion eaters like condors and eagles come along and feast on the remains, swallowing lead shot in the process. The poison then works its way into their system and they slowly die an agonizing death.

But a bill introduced into California’s Legislature (AB 711) would require the use of non-lead ammunition in the killing of wildlife in California. It faces its first vote April 16th when it will be taken up by the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

Opponents of this bill claim that there is insufficient science to justify requiring non-lead ammunition in the killing of wildlife. But those arguments ring hollow, especially after 30 nationally and internationally known scientists issued a strongly worded statement, “Health Risks from Lead-Based Ammunition in the Environment: A Consensus Statement of Scientists,” on March 22nd.

These scientists are experts in lead and environmental health from universities, hospitals and laboratories from around the United States, England and Canada. And they were unequivocal in their assessment of lead’s toxicity and their support for the reduction and elimination of the use of lead ammo in order to protect human and environmental health. Here are a few excerpts from this statement:

• “Lead is one of the most well-studied of all anthropogenic toxins and there is overwhelming scientific evidence that demonstrates . . .[l]ead is toxic . . ….”
• “There is no level of lead exposure to children known to be without deleterious effects (CDC, 2012).”
• “Lead-based ammunition is likely the greatest, largely unregulated source of lead knowingly discharged into the environment in the United States. In contrast, other significant sources of lead in the environment, such as leaded gasoline, lead-based paint, and lead-based solder, are recognized as harmful and have been significantly reduced or eliminated over the past 50 years.”
• “The discharge of lead-based ammunition and accumulation of lead-spent ammunition in the environment poses significant health risks to humans and wildlife.”
• “Lead poisoning from ingestion of spent lead-based ammunition fragments poses a serious and significant threat to California wildlife.”

X-ray of lead shot in the digestive tract of a young bald eagle. ©USGS

This last point was sadly illustrated when the golden eagle mentioned in my last blog post died in mid-March, just five days before the scientists’ statement was issued. The eagle was poisoned by eating lead ammunition fragments in a carcass. Despite heroic efforts by the veterinary staff at the Bird and Pet Clinic in Roseville, California, to bring down the extraordinarily high lead levels in this majestic bird, the damage was done and the eagle died of respiratory failure.

There is no scientifically valid reason why wildlife and humans should continue to be threatened with lead poisoning from lead ammunition. Opponents of the bill are just ignoring the facts – just like those who fought against getting lead out of gasoline, paint and cans used for food. Fortunately, science and common sense prevailed in those efforts. I can only hope we listen to the scientists again and California legislators ultimately approve this important bill. Stay tuned!

Sea otters rest wrapped in kelp beds along the California coast (c) Bruce J. Lichenberger

The tax deadline is looming, but there’s still time for Californians to help make a difference for threatened sea otters by donating as little as $1 to the California Sea Otter Fund on their state tax forms.

Though they once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, today there are fewer than 2,800 sea otters along the California coast. And with continuous threats of being poisoned by oil spills or other pollution, these charismatic critters are struggling to make a comeback.

In these tough economic times, donations that go to provide vital research dedicated to helping sea otters survive are more important than ever. That’s why Defenders worked with California lawmakers to establish the California Sea Otter Fund, giving California taxpayers the opportunity to contribute to the recovery of these animals just by entering $1 or more on line 410 of their California state tax form.

Each year, the Franchise Tax Board sets a target amount that the program has to raise in order to be on the form again the following year. For the last six years Californians have dug deep and donated enough for the tax check-off to return. This year, the tax check off must raise $273,025 — so if you’re in California, as you finish filling out your tax forms this year don’t forget about our furry aquatic friends.

2012 was a better year than usual for California’s sea otters, with the spring census showing a slight increase in the total population for the first time in four years. In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also officially abandoned their failed no-otter zone, allowing sea otters to expand their natural range to California’s southern waters without the threat of being moved back north across an invisible line in the Pacific Ocean. Between pollution and disease, sea otters still face many serious challenges, but with your help we can work to keep them on this path to recovery.

Click here to find out more on sea otter conservation and Defenders’ work with the California Tax Check-off.

Not in California? You can still help save sea otters by adopting one of these marvelous marine mammals. Not only will you be sharing your appreciation for this imperiled species, but you’ll also be helping to support Defenders’ work on their behalf. Click here to visit our Wildlife Adoption Center.

Kim Delfino, California Program Director

This year, California has the opportunity to become a leader in the effort to protect wildlife and people from lead poisoning. Assemblymember Anthony Rendon has introduced a bill (AB 711) into the California State Assembly to require the use of non-toxic ammunition when hunting. Because we are committed to protecting native animals in their natural environments, Defenders of Wildlife – along with with our partner organizations – will be working hard to help pass this important bill. If California enacts the law this year, it will be the first state to eliminate the use of lead ammunition for hunting statewide. More than fifty years of scientific research has shown that the presence of lead in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of the general public and the viability of the state’s wildlife, including federally-listed endangered and threatened species such as the California condor, and our national symbol, the bald eagle. The time is long overdue to protect people and wildlife from this toxic threat.

Golden eagle

You don’t have to look very far from Sacramento – where this bill was introduced and will be voted on — to see the urgency behind the effort to get lead ammunition out of the environment. Just last week, a bald eagle died from lead poisoning at the California Raptor Center at the University of California at Davis. The bird was rescued from a creek bed in Tehama County after it was found blind and listless, unable to take care of itself or its nest. This is nesting season in California, and the eagle was likely out looking for food to feed its mate. With the death of this eagle, its mate will have to leave the nest to find food, greatly increasing the odds that the nest will fail.

The very same week, a golden eagle suffering from lead poisoning was picked up at a reservoir near Maxwell in Colusa County. She was found on her belly, pulling herself along the hillside using her wings, with her useless legs dragging behind her. She is currently receiving very expensive treatment at the Bird and Pet Clinic in Roseville, California. It is very likely that both birds were poisoned from eating carcasses left over from hunters using lead ammunition, and these are just two examples of an issue that has plagued wildlife for decades throughout the state and across the country.

Lead isn’t only a threat to wildlife. It also puts humans in danger. California Assemblymember Richard Pan is a co-author of AB 711, and as a pediatrician and chairman of the Assembly Committee on Health, he understands the effects that eating game shot with lead ammunition can have on people. As a potent neurotoxin, there is no safe exposure level to lead for humans. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines lead as toxic, stating that it can affect almost every organ and system in the human body, including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys and reproductive and nervous systems. It is also extremely toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavioral disorders.

The requirement in AB 711 to eliminate the use of lead ammunition in hunting is the next step in a long effort by environmental and public health organizations to eliminate lead in its many forms from our environment. This bill would protect both people and wildlife by requiring the use of non-toxic – meaning non-lead —ammunition when hunting. This rule would be phased in over a two-year period in order to give hunters and sporting goods stores time to make the switch. Thankfully, non-toxic, non-lead ammunition is readily available and affordable, which will make the transition even easier.

A California condor flies over Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge (c)USFWS

In 1991, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service required the use of non-toxic shot for waterfowl hunting and, in 2007, the California Legislature required the same for big-game hunting within California condor territory. After these restrictions on the use of lead ammunition went into effect, hunting continued to thrive instead of disappearing as some critics had argued would happen. Indeed, we have seen an increase in the availability of non-toxic ammunition, which has been found to perform as well as, or better than, lead-based ammunition (click here for a video demonstration). Unfortunately, current restrictions on lead ammunition, while benefiting waterfowl and condors, are limited in geographic scope and to the hunting of specific species, which leaves most other wildlife vulnerable to this toxic metal. More protections are needed, and needed now.

In April, the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee will vote on this important bill. Defenders – along with Audubon California, the Humane Society of the United States and Physicians for Social Responsibility – will be heading up the effort to pass AB 711 and protect California’s wildlife from the deadly effects of lead poisoning. As the vote gets closer, we will keep you informed about this bill’s progress and, for our members in California, the opportunities for you to weigh in with your state legislators. Working together, we can get the lead out of California.