Defenders of Wildlife Blog

“Coast to Coast” is a summer blog series highlighting some of America’s most imperiled wildlife. By using the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s new state-by-state endangered species map, we will tell  stories about native plants and animals in unique landscapes where Defenders will be focusing its conservation efforts in coming years.

This is the story of a mighty minnow called the Oregon chub. This tiny, silver-backed fish only grows up to nine inches long and hides out in slack water such as oxbows and beaver ponds. Chub can only be found in five counties in western Oregon along the Willamette River, but the plight of the chub is representative of many species across the region. While the chub is now on the road to recovery, this humble fish offers an important cautionary tale of what’s at stake for other species.

Bioregion known as Cascadia

Cascadia, known as “The Land of Falling Waters,” is an eco-region defined by the river valleys that drain the Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. Those rivers were once dominated by big fish like salmon, steelhead and trout that dine on smaller fish like the Oregon chub. But the Willamette River Valley, home of the Oregon chub, is where nearly two-thirds of Oregonians also make their home, causing serious trouble for the chub and other fish.

The Willamette River was once the major creator of still, shallow water that the Oregon chub needs to survive. However, the chub’s habitat was slowly destroyed as the river’s natural flows were cut off upstream. Extensive flood-control and dam management have caused marshes, oxbows and over-flow ponds to disappear. The chub nearly disappeared along with them; by 1993 populations had been reduced by 98%, and it was officially listed as an endangered species.

For almost five years, several small conservation measures were put in place. Agreements with local officials at water treatment plants, the Army Corp of Engineers and other organizations helped improve the chub’s status. However, in 1998, it was discovered that only 20 populations remained, and 12 of those had fewer than 100 individuals.

That same year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service implemented a recovery plan that included protecting critical chub habitat, reintroduction of populations into previously populated areas, and programs to raise public awareness. It was a huge success.  In 2010, the chub became the comeback kid of Oregon.  The once-dwindling species boomed to over 20 populations of at least 500 fish, enough to merit a change of its status from “endangered” to “threatened.”

Listen to experts from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife talk about their successful recovery efforts:

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While chub populations are finally improving, other fish species in Cascadia still need our help. Pacific salmon and steelhead populations, for example, are still well below historic levels as a result of decades of dam-building and water pollution. That’s why Defenders has been fighting attempts in Congress to lift vital protections that keep our rivers clean and our fish healthy. Pesticides, in particular, are still a major threat to many species across the region, including the Oregon chub. Yet Big Ag and pesticide manufacturers want to make it easier to poison our waterways with toxic pesticides. Help us stand up to special interests and keep our rivers safe for people and wildlife!

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) decided to help his colleague Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) Tuesday night by introducing an amendment to the House Energy and Water appropriations bill that would prevent salmon restoration on the San Joaquin River in central California. If you feel like you’re having déjà vu all over again, that’s because Denham already tacked on an identical amendment to the House Commerce-Science-Justice appropriations bill last month. (Click here to see my previous post about the dangers of Denham’s San Joaquin salmon sabotage.)

Salmon populations and gold mining don’t mix.

By doubling down on the destructive provision, Young and Denham are clearly hoping to increase their chances of including it in a final appropriations bill later this year. Fortunately, while these two are busy conspiring to further undermine salmon restoration efforts, a federal appeals court gave imperiled Coho salmon in Northern California a much-needed boost. At the end of last week, the Ninth Circuit sided with the Karuk Tribe who argued that gold mining permits issued by the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act. Suction dredging and other gold mining activities continue to pose a serious risk to salmon populations.

Defenders legal team helped secure the victory by submitting a brief requesting “en banc” review by the full court. Two out of three judges had previously ruled against the tribe, so having all 11 judges hear the case was essential to overturning a dangerous precedent that would have allowed the antiquated Mining Act of 1872 to trump endangered species protections. The Ninth Circuit’s reversal ensures that vital habitat for America’s most vulnerable wildlife is protected from environmentally harmful mineral extraction practices. (Read an in-depth legal analysis from Berkeley Law blog, Legal Planet.)

As Richard Pearson’s op-ed in the New York Times reminds us, we should be doing everything we can to save salmon and other species from extinction, before it’s too late. He had this to say about the importance of preserving the 20,000-some species at risk of extinction around the world:

“It is often forgotten how dependent we are on other species. Ecosystems of multiple species that interact with one another and their physical environments are essential for human societies.

These systems provide food, fresh water and the raw materials for construction and fuel; they regulate climate and air quality; buffer against natural hazards like floods and storms; maintain soil fertility; and pollinate crops. The genetic diversity of the planet’s myriad different life-forms provides the raw ingredients for new medicines and new commercial crops and livestock, including those that are better suited to conditions under a changed climate.”

Right on, Dr. Pearson!

Yesterday, wildlife opponents in the U.S. House of Representatives took two deadly swipes at some of America’s most important (and imperiled) animals.

In what has become a troubling tradition in recent years, several members offered amendments to an appropriations bill that undermine critical wildlife protections. This time, the insidious riders were added to the Commerce, Justice and Science funding bill for the next fiscal year.

The first provision, introduced by Rep. Jeff Landry (R-Louisiana.), would prevent the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from moving forward with a proposal to expand protections for sea turtles. Each year, some 28,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles are caught in shrimp fishing nets that are currently exempted from requirements to use turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, which allow turtles escape from the nets.

Existing regulations have required most shrimp boats to use TEDs since the 1990s, but a loophole in current law exempts some types of trawl fishing from the requirement. In 2010 and 2011, unprecedented numbers of dead sea turtles washed ashore, prompting Defenders and other conservation groups to call for this loophole to be closed.  NMFS agreed and issued a proposed rule to do just that following settlement of litigation (see Defenders press release).  Now, Rep. Landry’s amendment could short-circuit the public’s ability to weigh in on expansion of these protections.

The other appropriations rider, introduced by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-California), would effectively block the recovery of salmon populations in California’s San Joaquin River. Friant Dam, completed in the 1940s, diverted nearly 95 percent of the San Joaquin’s water away from the river for agriculture, wreaking havoc on salmon and putting many commercial fisherman out of business. After years of litigation and negotiations, farmers and fisherman finally reached a settlement agreement to restore salmon to the San Joaquin. However, Denham’s amendment would scuttle restoration efforts by denying much-needed funding. Notably, all parties to the settlement agreement continue to support salmon restoration and oppose legislation that modifies its requirements. Clearly, Rep Denham is catering to outside parties and playing politics with our endangered species.

Defenders will be watching the appropriations process very closely over the coming weeks and months and doing everything we can to make sure these provisions are dropped from the final bill. We’ll need your help to hold members of Congress accountable for maintaining vital funding for protecting all our imperiled wildlife.

Stay tuned…

Wildlife opponents in Congress are it again.

Yesterday the House of Representatives voted to sacrifice wildlife, wetlands, jobs, and water quality in favor of politics and big agribusiness profits. The House approved H.R. 1837 which would reallocate water in California and overturn a bipartisan, court-approved settlement to restore the San Joaquin River that ended 18 years of litigation and was approved by Congress in 2009.

Representatives ignored the massive outcry to defeat this bill and made many of us wonder how far this House will go to decimate wildlife. Opponents of the bill include California’s two U.S. senators, the leaders of both state legislative houses, local governments and water districts, Delta farmers, commercial and recreational fishing associations and environmental groups. Even the attorneys general of Montana and New Mexico weighed in against this thinly veiled water grab.

While farmers and fishermen are justly worried about the impacts this bill would have on their livelihoods, the legislation would also deliver a crushing blow for endangered species by overriding the Endangered Species Act. California’s Bay-Delta is an important habitat for endangered Chinook salmon, steelhead and delta smelt that are struggling to survive. But it’s not just fish that depend on this rich ecosystem. As part of the Pacific Flyway, millions of migratory birds depend on this area as they travel thousands of miles on their annual migrations.

Endangered Chinook salmon could be hit hard by the water diversions required by this bill.

This is yet another legislative assault on our nation’s land, water and wildlife. By putting politics ahead of science, wildlife opponents in the House have once again proved that they are far more concerned about boosting corporate profits than protecting America’s wildlife.

Following House passage the Senate will have an opportunity to weigh in and hopefully decide that the lasting impacts this bill would have on struggling wildlife, water, and jobs are unacceptable. We are grateful for California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s response to this bill who said, “Candidly, I have seen few pieces of legislation during my 19 years in the Senate that are as poorly considered and dangerously one-sided as this one. I stand ready to work with anyone in good faith to solve California’s water problems, but this bill is not a starting point.”

Thank you, Senator. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

Tree debris litters the ground alongside a levee in Natomas, California after the Army Corps ordered levees across the country to be stripped of plant life. Photo courtesy of Ron Stork.

Consider the humble tree. Not only are trees beautiful, but they also provide the air we breathe and create habitat for wildlife.

But that’s not all. Here, in California, trees alongside rivers and streams are essential to threatened and endangered animals such as Chinook salmon, Swainson’s hawks and even the easy to overlook valley elderberry longhorn beetle.

That’s because tree roots prevent soil from crumbling and muddying the waters. Their shade also helps to keep rivers fresh and cool.

Sadly, some 95 percent of riverside forests in the Golden State were cut down long ago to make way for our homes, offices, shopping centers, farms and other developments. The vestiges of these once great woods now exist as stands of trees on and near river levees, providing some of last riparian (river-related) habitats in the state. But soon even these holdouts could face the axe.

Riverside habitat under threat

The levee clear-cut policy could impact Swainson's hawks.

The Army Corps of Engineers has declared war on all plant life (except for some grasses) living alongside levees across the entire country. The new policy requires levee owners to clear cut tens of thousands of miles of levees in California alone–turning rivers into little more than barren channels.

The orders came in reaction to tragic levee failures in 2005 that claimed thousands of lives in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Army Corps says that the decision is an effort to improve public safety.

But there’s a big problem: Levee vegetation was not the cause of the flooding in New Orleans. And there’s almost no scientific evidence that trees jeopardize levee safety. In fact, many levees in California were actually designed to work in partnership with trees and other plants, whose root systems help to stabilize soils along the riverbanks, according to the Army Corps’ own scientific reviews.

Levee clear cut policy jeopardizes public safety

What’s worse, in a letter to the Army Corps, the California Department of Water Resources (which maintains California’s levees) and the California Department of Fish and Game write that the new policy would divert funding away from levees in need of crucial repairs, causing a real public safety concern.

Chinook salmon also depend on riverside trees for healthy habitat.

Despite the pleas for reason, the Army Corps has continued to march forward. In California, the trees have started to fall. That’s why Defenders and our conservation partners have jumped in front of the axe and asked a federal court to stop the Army Corps assault on California’s levees.

Levee safety can be achieved without clear cutting some of the surviving riverside forests in the Central Valley and destroying habitat for struggling species like salmon, steelhead trout and willow flycatchers. But it’s now up to the court to make sure the levee trees that don’t jeopardize our safety stay standing tall.

Industry report shows pesticides are good for America!

(…a special installment of “Can’t Live Without ‘Em”)

That’s right. A new report from the good folks at Crop Life America identifies a cure for our nation’s prevailing economic ills: PESTICIDES!

Bald eagles were nearly wiped out in the 1970s due to the harmful effects of the pesticide DDT. Photo courtesy US Military

Turns out, pesticides create an additional $82 billion by improving crop yields, with “spin-off effects” of $166.5 billion in related industries. The report also concludes that pesticides have produced environmental benefits by quadrupling yields of corn and wheat without having to clear additional land. Who knew?

Of course, there’s absolutely no mention of the indirect costs on America’s native wildlife or public health from spilling toxic chemicals into our waterways. Nor is there any evaluation of the long-term impacts of agribusiness and industrial-scale monoculture, both of which are responsible for dismantling local food networks and putting the small family farmer out of business.

Let’s not forget that less than 40 years ago, the widespread use of DDT had virtually eradicated bald eagles and peregrine falcons, and pesticides today continue to wreak havoc on fish and amphibian species across the country.** (Read Defenders factsheet to learn more about the real impacts that pesticides have on the environment.)

Now, we all have to eat. And certainly pesticides will continue to play an important role in feeding the country. But no economic assessment can be complete without also examining the impact that pesticides have on water quality, human health, and the myriad species that must endure these poisons in their habitat.

Crop Life America has been lobbying Congress to weaken protections from pesticides that keep our drinking water safe and our people and wildlife healthy. This one-sided report is just their latest attempt to exploit our nation’s current economic downturn in order to boost corporate profits for the pesticide manufacturers and agribusinesses they represent.

Pacific salmon are just one of many species at risk from pesticide poisoning.

At-risk species like Pacific salmon and steelhead, which have tremendous economic value of their own, are now threatened with extinction in large part because of toxic run-off into our rivers and streams from farms sprayed with pesticides. The truth is that we need stronger protections to limit the damage that pesticides inflict on the environment, not weaker ones.

If pesticides are to be used, we must do a better job of making sure they don’t harm humans and wildlife. Rolling back environmental protections and dumping ever more pesticides onto the land and into our water is not a recipe for sustainable economic growth.

Help Defenders stand up to powerful special interests like Crop Life by supporting better protections from pesticides.

**NOTE: A recent survey of 583 conservation scientists found that 99.5% of respondents believe that a serious loss of biological diversity is imminent.