Defenders of Wildlife Blog

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.

Our national forests can provide vital habitat for endangered animals like lynx. Unfortunately, a new decision by the Obama administration would roll back forest protections that have been in place since the 1980s.

For lynx and other wildlife, it could be a forest foreclosure—one that denies these mysterious forest creatures and other wildlife the habitat protections they need to survive.

In an outrageous move, the Obama administration has proposed a new plan for our national forests, setting aside vital measures that have protected the homes of lynx and other imperiled wildlife since the days when Ronald Reagan was president.

Don’t let President Obama turn back the clock for our wildlife. Urge federal officials to stand up for wildlife protections in our national forests.

Plenty is at stake. The U.S. Forest Service manages 175 national forests and grasslands spread across 190 million acres in 42 states and Puerto Rico.

These magnificent landscapes support diverse ecosystems and an incredible array of fish, wildlife and plants including iconic animals such as lynx, antelope, bison, bighorn sheep, elk and cutthroat trout. In all, our national forests provide habitat for more than 5,000 species of fish and wildlife and more than 10,000 plant species.

Our national forests are worth protecting. The deadline for submitting public comments on the Obama forest plan is May 16th.

Take action now to speak out for these special places and save something wild.

The proposed plan would:

• Roll back existing safeguards for wildlife conservation and no longer require the Forest Service to maintain healthy and sustainable fish and wildlife populations for every species in our national forests;
• Leave the decision of whether or not to maintain healthy, viable populations of many imperiled wildlife species at the discretion of individual forest managers, leaving the fate of hundreds of species uncertain; and
• Allow individual forest managers the discretion to “give up” on protecting many needy species without facing accountability to the public.

Our national forests are the inheritance of our children and grandchildren. Please take action now to protect these special places… and the wildlife that calls them home.

In response to two recent court decisions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reconsider the designation of lynx “critical habitat” for a third time.  The Endangered Species Act requires critical habitat designation for all areas necessary to recover a listed population, and prohibits “adverse modification” of these areas.  The big question this time around is if the current designation will be expanded to include the southern Rockies area:  lynx habitat in Colorado and adjacent states.

Lynx recovery relies on the designation of "critical habitat" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A federal district court in Montana recently ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service provided insufficient grounds to exclude potentially important habitat both in Colorado and Montana (the Service had claimed that future of Colorado’s reintroduced population is still uncertain, so the importance of its habitat to the recovery of the lower-48 lynx population is premature).

Another federal district court in Wyoming ruled that the Service must revisit its economic analysis of the effects of the critical habitat designation in Washington State.  Defenders and several other groups represented by Earthjustice intervened in this lawsuit filed by a Washington snowmobile group, and successfully defended the bulk of the current critical habitat designation from this legal challenge, losing only on this narrow point that an environmental assessment that accompanied the previous designation was found lacking.

The Fish and Wildlife Service had considered appealing both rulings, but has instead opted for revising its designation a third time to address these two court rulings.  The agency’s initial designation in November 2006 was essentially limited to national parks that were already protected, and was thrown out by the courts after evidence that the decision was tampered with by Bush Administration officials.  The agency’s second designation in February 2009 covered a much larger area—approximately 40,000 square miles—but again was found deficient in these two rulings issued last year.  Defenders will actively participate in this latest update of the lynx critical habitat designation affecting lynx across the contiguous U.S. to ensure that all of their key areas are included.

We believe a recovery plan is the best way to translate lynx protections on paper to recovery actions on the ground, where they matter most to lynx. Recovery plans for other listed species like grizzly bears have made all the difference between just “hanging on” and making tangible, forward progress toward achieving recovery goals.

We look forward to a resolution of the critical habitat issue so that we can turn our attention to the greatest need facing lynx in the lower 48: a recovery plan.  We believe a recovery plan is the best way to translate lynx protections on paper to recovery actions on the ground, where they matter most to lynx.  Recovery plans for other listed species like grizzly bears have made all the difference between just “hanging on” and making tangible, forward progress toward achieving recovery goals.  These goals are specified in their recovery plans and include:  population goals (numbers and distribution); limits on mortality; targets for reproduction and survival of young; standards to maintain key habitats; recommendations for interstate and international collaboration and cooperation; and (very important for lynx especially) a strategy to adapt recovery actions to the anticipated effects of climate change.

With ongoing help from our members and supporters, Defenders will continue its leadership role among the many other advocacy groups, scientists and agency officials dedicated to the survival and recovery of this beautiful and majestic wild cat of America’s northern forests.

To learn more about lynx and climate change threats, watch this episode of Jeff Corwin’s Feeling the Heat:

Arizona's last regularly seen jaguar

America’s biggest cat will have to wait another year for habitat protections, federal wildlife officials said in a letter last month.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service settled lawsuits brought by the Center for Biological Diversity to establish critical habitat for the jaguar and a separate challenge from Defenders seeking  a recovery plan for the endangered cat.

But authorities say it will take another year to fully analyze potential habitat in the U.S., according to a  Scientific American report. A critical habitat designation would help identify and protect the areas jaguars need to find food, shelter and possibly mates.

Habitat loss, population growth and over hunting have taken a heavy toll on these spotted felines.

Researchers think that the northern fringes of the jaguar’s range, in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, will become increasingly important to its survival as deforestation and development destroy habitat throughout Mexico, Central and South America.

Jaguars once widely roamed from South America across the Southwest to Texas. But habitat loss, population growth and over hunting have taken a heavy toll on these spotted felines.

By the mid-20th century, jaguars were all but exterminated in the U.S.

Macho B in a snare

The Last One

Macho B—the last known jaguar to regularly prowl Arizona’s outback—was put down  in March 2009 after the large male’s kidneys failed, a condition blamed, in part, on stress related to his capture.

Twelve days earlier, researchers found the 15-year-old cat with his front paw dangling in a snare that was meant for bears and cougars.

Few jaguars are seen crossing over the U.S.-Mexico border, where the 670-mile-long border wall threatens migration corridors linking habitats in both countries.

Researchers had hoped that Macho B would teach them more about jaguar movements. He was tranquilized, collared with a radio tracking device and then set free.

But instead of insight, the radio broadcasted trouble, showing that Macho B’s movements had become slow and irregular.

Tests later revealed that his kidneys were failing so severely that he would not recover. And Arizona’s last known wild jaguar was euthanized at the Phoenix Zoo.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national treasure—and one of the most important onshore denning habitats for America’s remaining polar bears.

Right now, a polar bear mother is preparing her den in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—one of the most important onshore denning habitats for America’s struggling polar bears… But Big Oil wants to get its hands on this special place. And if it does, disruptive exploration and drilling could drive polar bear mothers to abandon their cubs, leaving them to starve to death.

Please call President Obama today to urge him to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!

IMPORTANT: Please let us know that you called. We will be closely tracking the number of calls in order to ensure that all our voices are heard on this important issue.

Big Oil wants to get its hands on on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And if it does, disruptive exploration and drilling could drive polar bear mothers to abandon their cubs, leaving them to starve to death.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—and to celebrate, thousands of people from across the country are calling on President Obama to permanently protect this unique national treasure and the wildlife that depend on it to survive.

Please make the call for polar bear homes today!

On March 23, 2010, scientists witnessed an endangered right whale giving birth. It was only the second time a right whale's birth has been seen and studied. (Photo courtesy of NOAA)

BREAKING: The National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that it will revise critical habitat for North Atlantic right whales, an endangered species that clings to survival with less than 400 individuals remaining.

The action comes in response to a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by The Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

The lawsuit challenged the agency’s failure to respond to the groups’ August 2009 petition, which sought to expand current critical habitat protections because areas located off the coast of New England and the Georgia/Florida border are inadequate to provide for the recovery of the whales. The government’s announcement today confirmed that the need to expand protected areas and indicated that the agency will propose new boundaries next year.

Sierra Weaver, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife said, “Critical habitat ensures precautions are taken when potentially dangerous activities like oil drilling and commercial shipping are being planned and carried out. Because these animals share our busy Atlantic Coastal waters, we need to make sure that risky activities in the places they call home aren’t going to hinder their ability to return to a sustainable population.”

Background:

• Right whales migrate from their calving grounds off the Southeastern U.S. to their feeding grounds off the Northeastern U.S. and Canada.  Adult female right whales reproduce slowly – reaching reproductive maturity at around age 8 and giving birth to one calf every four years.
• The only known calving ground for North Atlantic right whales is off the coast of Georgia and Florida, with documented births outside of the area currently designated as critical habitat. In 2008, 18 of 19 newborn calves documented were in areas just outside of the protected area.
• Each year female right whales die from being hit by ships or entanglement in commercial fishing gear in unprotected areas.  In one 18 month period, three pregnant females and their full-term young died after being hit by ships outside of their critical habitat.

Learn more:

Click here to read the full release.

See how Defenders is working to protect the critically endangered right whale.