U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Desert: the word conjures images of vast, barren land­ scapes of sand, rocks, and a few twisted, thorny plants baking under an unrelenting sun. Contrary to appear­ ances, however, deserts can harbor surprising biological March/June 2002 Vol. XXVII No. 2 diversity, although much of it is not readily apparent. In response to extreme environ­ mental conditions, many species are secretive, noctur­ nal, or active only seasonally. These conditions have led to a high number of endemic species, or those found only within a restricted range. Desert habitats also can be surprising; many are quite fragile and, once damaged, difficult to restore. Such char­ acteristics make deserts chal­ lenging but intriguing places for us to conserve endangered species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. U.S.U.S. FishFish && WWildlifildlifee SerServicevice

Corel Corp. photo

WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICE Washington, D.C. 20240

Steve Williams, Director Claire Cassel, Chief, Division of Partnerships and Outreach (703)358-2390 Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Endangered Species Rick Sayers, Acting Chief, Division of Consultation, HCPs, Recovery, and State Grants Elizabeth H. Stevens, Deputy Assistant Director (703)358-2106 Chris L. Nolin, Chief, Division of Conservation and Classification (703)358-2105 Kathy Walker, Chief, Office of Program Support (703)358-2079 http://endangered.fws.gov/

REGION ONE Eastside Federal Complex, 911 N.E. 11th Ave, Portland OR 97232

California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Anne Badgley, Regional Director (503)231-6118 Washington, American Samoa, Commonwealth http://pacific.fws.gov/ of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Pacific Trust Territories

REGION TWO P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, NM 87103

Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas H. Dale Hall, Acting Regional Director (505)248-6282 http://southwest.fws.gov/

REGION THREE Federal Bldg., Ft. Snelling, Twin Cities MN 55111

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, William Hartwig, Regional Director (612)715-5301 Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin http://midwest.fws.gov/

REGION FOUR 1875 Century Blvd., Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30345

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Sam Hamilton, Regional Director (404)679-7086 Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, http://southeast.fws.gov/ Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

REGION FIVE 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Mamie Parker, Regional Director (413)253-8300 Massachusetts, New Hampshire, http://northeast.fws.gov/ New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia

REGION SIX P.O. Box 25486, Denver Federal Center, Denver CO 80225

Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Ralph O. Morgenweck, Regional Director (303)236-7920 Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/

REGION SEVEN 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK 99503

Alaska Dave Allen, Regional Director (907)786-3542 http://alaska.fws.gov/ IN THIS ISSUE

4 Lands of Contrast, Diversity, and Beauty

8 Endangered Species and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

12 The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan

Telephone: (703)358-2390 Contributors 16 The Chihuahuan Desert: Fax: (703)358-1735 Jim Rorabaugh Antonia Nevarez Diversity at Risk E-mail: [email protected] Ray Bransfield Ben Ikenson Susan D. Jewell Dario Bard Editor Mark Dimmitt LaRee Brosseau Michael Bender Richard C. Brusca Tracy A. Scheffler 18 Restoring a Desert Oasis Chuck Huckelberry Jim Brooks Associate Editor Cathryn A. Hoyt Shane Jones Susan D. Jewell Jody Fraser 20 Desert Fish: Life on the Edge Cynthia Martinez Editorial assistance provided by Linus Chen Ann Haas Mike Richardson 22 Life in Mauna Kea’s Alpine Desert Jeff Humphrey Art Director Subscriptions Manager Craig Springer David Yeargin Germaine Kargbo Randi Thompson 24 The Tarahumara Frog: Marty Jakle Return of a Native

27 Leading-edge Science for Imperiled Bonytail

On the Cover The Sonoran Desert is an 28 Las Vegas Places its Bets area of surprising biological richness and on Habitat Plan beauty. Corel Corp. photo 30 Arizona Tribal Partnerships for Wildlife

32 New Mexico’s Little Known Treasures

34 Rio Grande Silvery Minnow

The Endangered Species Bulletin welcomes manuscripts on a wide range of topics related to 36 Black-footed Ferrets endangered species. We are particularly interested in news about recovery, habitat conserva­ Return to Mexico tion plans, and cooperative ventures. Please contact the Editor before preparing a manuscript. We cannot guarantee publication. Departments The Fish and Wildlife Service distributes the Bulletin primarily to Federal and State agencies, and official contacts of the Endangered Species Program. It also is reprinted by the University of Michigan as part of its own publication, the Endangered Species UPDATE. To subscribe, write 38 Regional News and the Endangered Species UPDATE, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Recovery Updates Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115; or call (734) 763-3243. 40 Listing Actions Printed with vegetable-based ink on recycled and recyclable paper. If you do not keep back issues, please recycle the paper, pass them along to an interested person, or donate them to a local school or library. 44 Box Score Lands of Contrast, by Jim Rorabaugh and Ray Bransfield Diversity, and Beauty

Despite their popular image as Deserts cover up to one third of the hot, dry, virtually lifeless wastelands, earth’s land surface. In western North deserts support a deceivingly rich level America, 386,000 square miles (one of plant and animal life with a high million square kilometers) are consid­ degree of biological ered desert. The United States has four diversity. But just what is desert regions: the Great Basin, Mojave, a desert? Sonoran, and Chihuahuan (see map). In Mark Dimmitt of the the Great Basin Desert, snowfall and Arizona-Sonora Desert freezing temperatures are common in Museum (see the winter, whereas frost occurs only 2 to 5 following article) has percent of the time in the Mojave and coined a concise Chihuahuan deserts and 1 percent or nontechnical definition less of the time in the Sonoran Desert. of a desert as “a place Although deserts are harsh environ­ where water is severely ments in many ways, species richness limiting to life most of can be high. In a recent assessment the time.” Deserts (Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: generally receive less A Conservation Assessment, T.H. Ricketts than 10 inches (25 et al., Island Press, 1999) of biodiversity centimeters) of annual in 116 U.S. and Canadian biomes (major precipitation and are life zones of interrelated plants and characterized by high animals determined by climate), the evaporation rates. As a Chihuahuan Desert had the greatest result, desert plants and diversity of birds, mammals, reptiles, and animals must be espe­ butterflies, and placed eleventh in cially efficient at captur­ vascular plant diversity. The Sonoran ing water and thrifty in Desert ranked second in avian species its use. To further diversity and third in mammalian complicate matters for diversity. All four North American deserts living things, precipita- also had high rates of endemism (where tion is often highly species have locally restricted ranges) as variable in terms of time and place. For well, which reflects specialized adapta­ A rare dusting of snow in the example, in the Sierra del Rosario of the tions to habitat niches. normally hot, dry Sonoran Desert Corel Corp. photo Gran Desierto in the state of Sonora, Contributing to the diversity of desert Mexico, no measurable precipitation fell organisms are those species that live in during a 34-month period in the early pockets or oases of less arid environ­ 1970s. In contrast, rainfall from a single ments. Riparian or streamside environ­ torrential storm event can exceed the ments, in particular, support an array of mean annual precipitation. Other species found nowhere else in desert characteristics that help define deserts regions. The Rio Grande and Pecos River include high maximum temperatures and of the Chihuahuan Desert, the San Pedro daily temperature variation, low soil and Colorado rivers of the Sonoran fertility, and extremely low cover by Desert, and the Mojave River of the perennial plants. Mojave Desert contribute enormous

4 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 diversity to these otherwise arid environ­ occurred, off-road ve­ Great Basin ments. Also important are mountain tops hicles and other forms of Mojave or “sky islands,” and in some cases deep, recreation, cattle and Sonoran shady canyons, that support chaparral, sheep grazing, roads and Chihuahuan woodlands, or other communities that canals, introduced inva­ are relics of more temperate periods. sive plants, and a myriad Plants and animals are often exquis­ of other human-caused itely adapted to living in the desert. The problems can degrade concept that species struggle to survive and fragment desert in the desert is inaccurate. Desert ecosystems. residents employ various behavioral and Desert soils and their physiological adaptations to thrive in this biota are fragile, often harsh environment. Some species simply overlooked resources. avoid aridity by living in riparian Crypto-biotic crusts, habitats, or by being active or growing which are soil communi­ only during the desert’s brief wet ties of lichens, algae, and periods. For example, more than 40 mosses, are very impor­ percent of desert plants are annuals that tant. They benefit native germinate and grow only when enough plant and animal com­ rain has fallen. Spadefoot toads munities by stabilizing (Scaphiopus and Spea spp.) and some desert soils, contributing other amphibians wait out the desert’s nutrients, and increasing heat and aridity in subterranean retreats water infiltration. These until summer rains create standing water crusts are especially well- for breeding and feeding. Sometimes developed in desert soils but are easily Map adapted from “Deserts” by K. they must wait a year or more for the destroyed by cattle grazing, off-road Bruce Jones, in Inventory and Monitoring of Wildlife Habitat, U.S. rains to come. Other species are simply vehicles, and other sources of surface Department of the Interior, 1986. adapted to living with aridity. Plants, for disturbance. Once destroyed, the crusts example, employ a variety of strategies may take centuries to fully recover. Tank to minimize evaporative water loss: some tracks from General Patton’s World War drop their leaves in dry periods; some II military training are still visible in the develop succulent stems, leathery leaves, Mojave Desert. Cryptobiotic crusts have or tubers that store water; and others been observed growing in undisturbed Pronghorn in Great Basin desert lack leaves entirely. soils around the tracks, but 60 years Photo by Curtis Carley/USFWS Our deserts are relatively intact and undisturbed compared to most other North American ecosystems, many of which have been logged, farmed, urbanized, or otherwise changed in many ways by human activities. The harshness of the desert, and the percep­ tion that deserts are wastelands, kept people away for a long time. But deserts did not escape human influence even historically, and today humanity affects even the most remote desert locales. Urbanization and agriculture have consumed large tracts of desert in recent years, such as in the rapidly growing urban centers of Phoenix and Las Vegas, and certain military activities have degraded thousands of acres. Even where large-scale habitat loss has not

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 5 later, the crusts are still lands in Arizona and Texas. Its expan­ absent from the tracks sion to the north and into higher themselves. The elevations has been limited by winter disturbance of desert cold. However, the “frio” variety, recently crusts by vehicular released in Texas, tolerates colder activity results in climates and is sure to pose an even erosion and the move­ greater threat to the desert’s biodiversity. ment of particulate Another African invader, Sahara mustard matter, sometimes far (Brassica tournefortii), has in recent beyond its source area. years spread rapidly across the Mojave In some areas, these Desert in California and in sandy areas wind-blown particulates in the Sonoran Desert. are a hazard to human In abundant rainfall years, nonnative health; in others, newly annual plants can be dense enough to formed sand dunes bury carry fire when they dry and cure. The existing habitats and perennial bufflegrass can carry fire alter biotic communities. during any dry period. Most native Historically, mining species are poorly adapted to fire, and cattle grazing were because fire was historically absent or the primary uses of very rare in many parts of North Ameri­ desert lands. Cattle were can deserts. Fire fueled by nonnative introduced over 300 plants is converting scenic stands of years ago, but were not columnar cacti and leguminous trees in common on the the Sonoran Desert, and creosote and landscape until the yucca in the Mojave Desert, to grasslands railroads arrived and dominated by nonnative annual grasses encouraged large-scale and herbs.

If enough rain falls, desert wildflowers can erupt from ranching in the late 1800s. Cattle have Some human impacts to the desert seeds that may have been produced years ago. had a profound effect on desert scrub are more difficult to detect by casual Corel Corp. photo communities, including the depletion of observation. Vanadium, a by-product of native grasses, introduction of nonnative oil production in the Central Valley of plants, destruction of cryptobiotic crusts, California, has increased in air samples and compaction of soils. Changes in collected in the northern Mojave Desert. plant communities have led to decreased In Death Valley National Park, sulphur diversity and numbers of lizards and compounds have been found to occur at other wildlife. Evidence of mining in the elevated levels in tree rings dating to the desert is often historical, but interest in years following World War II. High levels “hard rock” minerals, especially gold, has of heavy metals have been detected in undergone a resurgence in some areas some desert tortoises. At this time, we do due to new technologies that can extract not know how these elements will affect minerals from old tailings or other low- biological diversity in the desert. yield sources. Some of the most contentious issues Invasive nonnative plants, such as red in the desert southwest center around brome (Bromus rubens), filaree the development and use of water. In the (Erodium cicutarium), and split grass southwest, we have an old saying: (Schismus spp.), are now common and “Whiskey’s fer drinkin’ and water’s fer widespread across the North American fightin’ over.” As a scarce commodity, deserts. Bufflegrass (Pennisetum ciliare), water in the desert has been the subject a perennial bunch grass from Africa of considerable “fightin’ ” for a long time. introduced as cattle feed, has been Virtually every major river in our deserts planted in rangelands in Texas, occupies has been dammed and diverted, many more than 2 million acres in Sonora, have been channelized and lined with Mexico, and is invading other desert levees, and others have been pumped dry.

6 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 Our desert rivers and streams are also awash in nonnative fishes, inverte­ brates, amphibians, and plants. As a result, a high percentage of native ri­ parian species in the deserts are in some dan­ ger of extinction. Most of the native fishes are listed as threatened or endan­ gered, and the roster of Florida’s Desert other listed and candidate by Susan D. Jewell riparian species continues to grow. Most people are familiar with Despite considerable the deserts of the American southwest. But who ever threats to desert biodi­ thinks of a desert in Florida? versity, many public and private agencies and insti­ In scattered patches, tutions have stepped up particularly across central to the plate to meet the Florida, there are sandy scrub challenge of conserving habitats so dry that only desert-like animals can arid land resources. Lands survive. The best example is administered by the Bu­ the Lake Wales Ridge, 100 reau of Land Management miles (160 km) long and up to support numerous sensi- 25 miles (40 km) wide. It is a tive habitats and species, remnant of the prehistoric although the Department shoreline, left after wind and of Defense, National Park Service, Fish Death Valley, California, in the Mojave Desert waves piled the sand into high Corel Corp photo dunes. Now the sand lies and Wildlife Service, and Forest Service hundreds of feet thick below also manage key areas of biodiversity. (At right) Florida scrub jay the ground. Rainfall The Navajo, Hopi, Tohono O’odham, USFWS photo percolates through these and many other Native American Tribes deposits so quickly that plants also are stewards of desert lands across and animals must survive on the West. State parks and wildlife areas, little moisture. Nutrients also particularly in California and Texas, have quickly leach through. protected key areas. Many private groups Some of the animals found and individuals, too numerous to there, such as the Florida mention here, have been instrumental in scrub-jay (Aphelocoma bringing about needed changes in land coerulescens) in the photo Jim Rorabaugh is Supervisory Fish management and in preserving special above, are similar to ones and Wildlife Biologist in the Arizona places in the desert. Some ranchers and found in the southwest desert. Ecological Services Field Office in Mole and sand skinks, scrub other landowners are modifying their Phoenix; 602/ 242-0210 ext. 238; lizards, and many fossorial activities to conserve native plants and [email protected]. Ray Bransfield (digging) insects have animals as well. The articles that follow is a Wildlife Biologist in the FWS adapted to life on the shifting illustrate some of the many programs sands. Agaves and thorny Ventura, California, Field Office; 805/ and projects that have contributed to the plants also thrive here. 644-1766 or at [email protected]. preservation of the unique species and subtle beauty that characterize our North The Lake Wales Ridge has one of the highest American deserts. concentrations of endemic species in North America, including 22 listed plants and 4 animals.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 7 Endangered Species and by Mark Dimmitt and Richard C. Brusca the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a nonprofit research and education institution located in the city of Tucson, is a combination zoological park, botanical garden, nature center, and museum. Our multiple func­ tions are reflected in our memberships in the American Zoo Association (AZA), American Association of Bo­ tanical Gardens and Arboreta, American Association of Museums, and Center for Plant Conservation, among others. Our primary mission is to understand and inter­ Mexican gray wolf pret the natural history and ecology of the Sonoran Photo by Jim Clark/USFWS Desert and its surrounding habitats, and to promote conservation in the region.

Nursery Horticulturist John Wiens marks developing fruits on hand- pollinated, cultivated specimens of Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus. The fruit and seed counts will determine the maximum fecundity for this endangered cactus, known from only three populations in Arizona and Sonora. ASDM Research Associate Bob Schmalzel is two decades into a multifaceted ecological study of this plant. The plants shown here are second generation cacti in the Desert Museum’s collection. Photo: Mark Dimmitt.

8 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 The Sonoran Desert covers about 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers) in the United States and Mexico. In contrast to the other three North American deserts, the Sonoran is tropical in origin and most of its area is frost-free. Half of its flora and a similar proportion of the fauna are descended from tropical ancestors. This fact is visually evident in two plant life forms that are characteristic of both the Sonoran Desert and dry tropical forests: legume trees and columnar cacti. The other three North American deserts have few trees and no columnar cacti. Numerous biological communities occur adjacent to and within the Sonoran Desert proper. Representatives of all of the biomes can be found within this region, from alpine tundra near Flagstaff, place as opposed to in botanical gardens A field-netted lesser long-nosed bat Arizona, to tropical forests in southern or zoos), and we focus on the protection is about to surrender a small tissue Sonora, Mexico. of natural communities more than on sample for DNA analysis before being released. Studies of this endangered The wide variety of habitats and the preservation of individual species. For nectar-feeding bat species are part of biseasonal rainfall pattern in the Sonoran example, research on the ecology and the Desert Museum’s Migratory Desert support great biological diversity. population dynamics of desert ironwood Pollinators Program. Its flora contains about 2,000 species of trees (Olneya tesota) revealed just how Photo by Karen Krebbs vascular plants, and the whole region important this plant is to the ecological interpreted by the Desert Museum has at health of the Sonoran Desert and its least 5,000. The desert proper supports wildlife. These findings attracted the approximately 600 species of vertebrates. attention of the Department of the The invertebrates have not been enumer­ Interior and provided the scientific ated, but there are estimates for some underpinnings for the creation of the taxa. Arizona alone boasts 40 species Ironwood Forest National Monument in each of scorpions and velvet ants, and 2000. The ironwood studies and other 250 butterflies; the Sonoran Desert has research results have also been used by 40 species of termites. The area around Pima County in developing its Sonoran Tucson has 1,000 species of native bees, Desert Conservation Plan (see the and an equal number of moth species following article). occurs in a single canyon in the Huachuca The Desert Museum also maintains ex Mountains of southern Arizona. situ or museum-based populations of Most of our exhibits at the Arizona- several endangered species. The animals Sonora Desert Museum are outdoors and bred as part of our participation in AZA’s integrate native, live animals and plants Species Survival Plan program include in natural settings. Our interpretive focus the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus is as much on ecological processes as it baileyi), thick-billed parrot is on individual species. For example, (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha), and our Pollination Gardens interpret the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). Our Botany interaction of animals and plants and the Department maintains populations of reciprocal benefits of pollination ecology several endangered plants, including the rather than simply talking about, say, Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus hummingbirds or flowering ocotillos. (Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. We mainly promote in situ conserva­ nicholii), Pima pineapple cactus (Cory- tion (that is, conservation of nature in

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 9 science. Of 90 vertebrate species of concern, specimens of 44 species are on exhibit or in breeding programs at the Desert Museum. Members of our Conservation and Science Department staff are involved in several field research projects that involve endangered and threatened species. The largest is the Migratory Pollinators Program, which is being funded by the Turner Foundation, Turner Endangered Species Fund, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. One of the species under investigation is the endangered lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae). Among the non-listed species we’re studying are the rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica), and monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). There is evidence that the latter three species are declining due to habitat destruction. Our Migratory Pollinators Program seeks to map the migration corridors of these species from the southwestern United States to the state of Jalisco, Mexico. We are also identifying the major plant resources that fuel the migrations, recommending the preservation of important habitat that we identify in Mexico and the southwestern U.S., and providing information to the public about the loss of pollination services in nature and agriculture due to habitat destruction and excessive pesticide use Working beyond species boundaries, the Desert Museum has been a leader in research and public education about endangered ecological processes. Gary Nabhan, the Museum’s former Director This San Esteban chuckwalla phantha scheeri var. robustispina), and of Conservation and Science, worked on (Sauromalus varius) provides in situ Kearney blue-star (Amsonia kearneyana). the ecology of the desert ironwood tree blood samples for analysis as part of We have numerous other rare plant (see sidebar) and revealed its status as a a long-term study (photo shows and animal species in our collections. keystone species upon which numerous Curator of Herpetology Craig Ivanyi in 1997). The Desert Museum has also Our list of Species of Conservation other plants and animals depend. maintained a captive breeding Concern for the Sonoran Desert region Through a grant from the National Fish population of this speciesfor more totals 195 rare or vulnerable plant taxa, and Wildlife Foundation, we are con­ than 20 years. This chuckwalla is of which 125 are in our collections. ducting exhaustive studies on the abundant on tiny San Esteban Island Some of these are plants that our field ecology and population dynamics of the in the Gulf of California, but occurs botanists have located within the Pima pineapple cactus, including its naturally nowhere else. Photo by Gary P. Nabhan Sonoran Desert region for the first time, pollination biology, fecundity, growth and some were previously unknown to rates, seed dispersal, and predators. Rick

10 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 Brusca, our new Director of Conserva­ tion and Science, conducted research in the Gulf of California and its coastal habitats. His findings have played a key role in developing conservation strate­ gies for critical coastal and island habitats in the Gulf and the Colorado River Delta region, including protection of coastal wetlands and of the endan­ gered Gulf miniature porpoise or vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a fish known as the totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi), and others. Brusca was co-Principal Investi­ gator on the construction of an All- Animal Database for the Gulf of Califor­ nia (accounting for more than 6,000 species) that is currently being used to Illustration by Bill Singleton identify the most imortant conservation priorities in the region. The Arizona Sonora into animal figur es There is an urgency to conservation Desert Museum has had a created a gro wing de­ in the Sonoran Desert region because long-standing interest in the mand for these items southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, wellbeing of the desert ironw ood that many other Mexicans are among the fastest developing areas tree. This legume, the only species in its car vers now seek to fill. A greater threat is in North America. Conducting all of genus, has no close relatives. It is a dominant the demand for firewood and charcoal. The these projects puts tremendous demands tree in much of the Sonoran Desert and is main tr ee cut for these uses is mesquite on our small staff of 110 employees, nearly endemic to this region. Desert iron- (Prosopis spp.), but ironwoods are often in­ even with the help of several hundred wood tr ees are slow gro wing and live up to 800 discriminately cut as well. The damage is in- docents and volunteers. We maintain the years. The wood is so dense that it sinks in creased by changes in cutting techniques. grueling pace because we love this land water, and it contains toxins that render it When felled by axe, ironwood trees resprout and want to keep the best parts of it nearly non-biodegradable. Because dead wood from the stump. But today they are most often healthy and beautiful for the benefit of is immune to termites and wood-rotting fungi, cut to ground level with chain saws, causing future generations. large trees can take a millennium to weather them to die. Major components of the desert away after dying. community die with the nurse trees. This in- Mark A. Dimmitt (520/883-3008; formation was gathered and publicized by the [email protected]) is the Gar y Nabhan discov ered ironwood’s role as a Ironwood Alliance, a conservation organiza­ Museum’s Director of Natural History keystone species in the Sonoran Desert ecosys­ tion in which Desert Museum staff members and Rick Brusca (520/883-3007; tem. Most desert plants cannot become estab­ are actively involved. [email protected]) is the lished in the harsh, open deser t environment; Director of Conservation and Science. they must germinate beneath a “nurse plant.” The above studies led to creation of the Iron- In some regions of the Sonor an Deser t, wood Forest National Monument in 2000. This ironwoods are the most important nurse trees, monument encompasses the Silverbell Moun­ sheltering more species within their canopies tains and four other desert ranges and inter­ than any other plants. The diversity of associ­ vening valleys. The Desert Museum will con­ ates is greatest in the Silverbell Mountains tinue to be involved in this new monument, and adjacent ranges west of Tucson, Arizona. which is practically in our back yard, and the Bureau of Land Management has contracted Although it is not classified as endangered, us to conduct the vegetation analysis and desert ironwood is greatly threatened by hu­ baseline faunal studies needed to dev elop the man activities. For example, the tr ees have monument’s management plan. The monu­ been locally depleted by the ironwood carving ment is expected to be an important part of industr y. Begun by the Seri Indians of Sonora, the proposed Sonoran Desert Conser vation Mexico, in the 1960s, the car ving of ironwood Plan’s system of habitat reser ves.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 11 The Sonoran Desert by Chuck Huckelberry Conservation Plan

Pima County, affected development in upland areas. Arizona, covers a vast The cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl land base in the south- (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum) western United States gained federal protection as an endan­ and includes a commu­ gered species in 1997 after biologists nity of diverse cultures found only 12 of the tiny birds in Pima and interests. Within the County. We responded early by forging boundaries that encom­ partnerships with federal land managers pass our nearly 6 million to address the regulatory expectations of acres (2.4 million the ESA and to meet the larger spirit and hectares) of Sonoran intent of that law. Tucson, Pima County’s Desert, we are proud to largest city, is a place where both count as neighbors the entrepreneurial and conservation land country’s second largest ethics find extraordinary expression. Native American Nation, Therefore, we set out to formulate a new the Tohono O’odham, kind of conservation plan, one tailored ranch communities, to the unique pressures we face here in federal land managers of Pima County. every stripe, and urban Section 10 of the ESA allows for the communities that are kind of flexibility and balance we need. enriched by our His- The economic certainty gained by panic origins and regulatory assurances that are provided energized by the 20,000 under a section 10 incidental take permit new residents who move will meet the requirements of the here each year. business community, and the science- We have consistently based conservation aspects of the sought ways to express a planning process will allow us to When the tiny cactus ferruginous love of, and concern for, the unique address the problems that led to the pygmy owl was listed as endangered, Sonoran Desert ecosystem that sur­ owl’s listing in the first place. In fact, we its presence in Pima County focused rounds us with such unparalleled beauty. seek to reverse the decline of a host of the need to address the impacts of Until recently, translating that passion vulnerable species by conserving and development on Sonoran Desert into a comprehensive land use plan has restoring large-scale natural systems in ecosystems. Photo by Glenn Proudfoot been a losing battle. Five decades of the Sonoran Desert ecoregion. steady population growth outpaced the county’s ability to establish and imple­ Origins ment an effective regional planning tool. In 1998, the Pima County Board of In 1998, however, we found the ap­ Supervisors initiated discussions on land proach we were looking for in the use planning and conservation. We promise of the Sonoran Desert Conserva­ broadened the vocabulary of the growth tion Plan. debate to include biological and scien­ (Opposite page) One of the treasures of the Sonoran Desert is Organ Pipe The need to address Pima County’s tific concepts, and reframed the elements Cactus National Monument, which is growth issues intensified when the of regional planning to encompass the managed by the National Park Service. community experienced its first Endan­ relation that the land has to natural and Corel Corp. photo gered Species Act (ESA) listing that cultural resources. This was a bold

12 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 stroke by the board: to undertake For the past several decades, Arizona science-based land use planning and has been one of the fastest growing depart from the practice of placing states in the country. Between 1990 to political considerations at the front of the 2000, the population in Arizona grew An endangered plant, the Pima conversation. Pima County has asked from 3.6 million to 5.1 million, an pineapple cactus (Coryphantha fundamental questions about resource increase of 40 percent. Pima County has scheeri var. robustispina) is roundish capacity and the impacts of land and shared in this rapid population expan­ to oval in shape and can grow up to water uses. Answers to these important sion. The county’s annual growth rate 18 inches (45 cm) in height. It occurs questions suggest reforms, strategies, and varies from 15,000 to 30,000 persons in low densities within southern solutions that encompass the region each year, and at the current rate the Arizona and northern Sonora, without regard to the administrative county consumes approximately seven to Mexico. Threats to this rare cactus include urban and agricultural constraints of governmental entities. 10 square miles (18 to 26 square kilome­ development, off-road vehicle use, The proposed Sonoran Desert ters) of the desert each year. The overgrazing, mining, nonnative Conservation Plan steps away from Sonoran Desert, rich in biodiversity, grasses, and illegal collecting. conventional metropolitan and regional provides habitat for more than 2,500 Photograph by Jim Rorabaugh planning theory. It uses a concept that known pollinators and 500 migrating or can be called “bio-planning,” or natural resident bird species—a figure that resource assessment and planning, as a represents almost two-thirds of the bird necessary first step in determining urban species in the United States, Canada, and form. Our method assumes that urbaniz­ northern Mexico, according to The ing areas are endowed with certain Nature Conservancy. natural, cultural, and historical resources that should receive protection. This is Elements of the Proposed Plan the basic principle upon which the plan Most urban areas have plans or is based. programs that give at least some protec-

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 13 tion to natural, historic, and cultural 4) Historical and Cultural Preservation resources. Pima County was no excep­ Pima County is rich in history, culture, tion even prior to the Sonoran Desert regional character, and diversity. Unfortu­ Conservation Plan proposal. What is nately, continued urban expansion different now is that all of the sometimes threatens our cultural and historic independent natural resource planning resources. It is important to preserve our and protection activities have been past in order to face our future. integrated into the proposed Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. The six 5) Critical Habitat and Biological elements of the plan are: Corridors The two elements that express the 1) Ranch Conservation biological basis of the plan are critical Ranching is a significant historical and habitats1 and biological corridors. When cultural land use in Pima County. Ranch work began on the proposed Sonoran lands have largely determined the urban Desert Conservation Plan, the scientific boundary in eastern Pima County, and community did not have a list of vulner­ ranching continues to maintain open able species of concern, a set of biologi­ space and other natural resources. But cal standards, or even a vegetation map many ranchers in Pima County are under that could serve as a starting point to economic pressure to sell their land for determine which of the regions’ species subdivision and urbanization. By helping need protection or are in decline. These ranchers stay in ranching and by pro­ two elements of the original plan, now moting good land management prin­ combined into one, recognize the need Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus) ciples, we can better protect the open for biological interconnectivity between nesting on a saguaro (Carnegiea space of Pima County. the areas that will be identified for gigantea) cactus, an indicator conservation in the plan. species of Sonoran desert. Corel Corp. photo 2) Riparian Restoration Each of these independent planning Riparian areas in a desert environ­ elements is being woven carefully into ment are very important natural re- the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan to sources, but they are the most vulnerable provide the most comprehensive and habitats in Pima County. Sixty to 75 scientifically defensible set of natural percent of all species in Arizona rely on resource, historical, and cultural preser­ a riparian environment (including vation goals. aquatic habitats) during at least part of their life cycle. Decades of unintended 6) A Conservation Reserve and destruction, primarily in urban areas, Development Reserve should be reversed through some level The proposed Sonoran Desert of riparian restoration. Conservation Plan combines short-term actions to protect and enhance the 3) Mountain Parks natural environment with long-range Protecting the open and scenic beauty planning to ensure that our natural and of the west has long been recognized as urban environments not only coexist but important. Tucson Mountain Park was enhance each other. established by the Board of Supervisors The Conservation Plan is not about in 1929 and has been expanded periodi­ whether development in the county cally ever since. New mountain parks are continues to grow but where it grows. still being created, primarily to protect Growth should occur in areas with the scenic views from encroachment and fewest natural, historic, and cultural destruction. Preservation of these vast resource values. The end product of the tracts of mountain lands also protects Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan will their biological resources. be to create a regional conservation reserve using the best science available. A conservation reserve will be formed by

14 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 combining a biological reserve with a inclusive, and comprehensive as it Conservation Plan its Outstanding Award historic and cultural reserve. develops. Two independent experts, for a Plan. We hope to have the ap­ The Science Technical Advisory Team conservation biologist Dr. Reed Noss and proved plan in place by December 2002. for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Laura Hood Watchman, the author of a The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan has outlined a preliminary concep­ book and numerous studies analyzing Plan website, http://www.co.pima. tual reserve based on the land needed to habitat conservation plans around the az.us/cmo/sdrp/, contains a wealth stabilize and recover plants and animals country, have conducted an independent of information about the proposed plan that are currently imperiled, threatened, review of the Sonoran Desert Conserva­ as it stands now and the process guiding and/or endangered. Land uses that are tion Plan and praised it as “a credible, its development. compatible with biological goals within science-based process designed to It has been a privilege to work with the conservation reserve will be further achieve clear and laudable goals for the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other defined in upcoming months. At this long-term conservation of biodiversity in federal agencies, and the local commu­ time, we do not know which lands Pima County.” nity as we establish the Sonoran Desert within Pima County will be incorporated Pima County is designing its plan for Conservation Plan and together find a within the conservation reserve or how the urban environment to work within a mechanism for creative problem solving. much acreage it will include. natural and cultural resource protection Lands outside of the conservation ethic, which in turn will give the issues Chuck Huckelberry is the Pima County reserve will become possible sites for of urban design and a sustainable Administrator. For more information establishment of a development reserve. economy new life. I believe Tucson will about the plan, contact Maeveen Behan, Development reserve lands also will be grow into itself through this planning Assistant to the County Administrator, at defined in more detail later in the initiative, shedding its limitations and 520/740-8015 or [email protected]. comprehensive planning effort. These realizing its potential. It is our love of pima.az.us. areas do not have the values previously the Sonoran Desert that will ultimately described within the conservation allow Pima County residents to turn the 1For the purposes of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and this article, the term reserve and should be considered as most ambitious habitat conservation “critical habitat” refers not only to regulatory preferred areas for urban conversion. effort in the United States into the designations of critical habitat under the ESA but also other habitats important to the conservation grandest of community plans. Our efforts of species covered in the plan. In addition, the Conclusion to date were recently recognized by the term recognizes unique Sonoran Desert habitat The Sonoran Desert Conservation American Planning Association, which associations, such as ironwood stands, that are critical to sustaining the desert’s biodiversity. Plan has become increasingly innovative, awarded the proposed Sonoran Desert

(Left) A herbaceous, semi-aquatic perennial, the Huachuca water umbel (Lilaeopsis schffneriana ssp. recurva) occurs in cienegas, springs, and healthy riverine systems in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. Widespread loss of riparian habitats led to the decline of this endangered plant.

(Above) The Gila chub (Gila intermedia), a dark-colored minnow that can reach a maximum length of about 10 inches (25 cm), historically inhabitated headwater streams of the Gila River in Arizona and New Mexico and likely the San Pedro and Santa Cruz river systems in Sonora, Mexico. This fish is on the Arizona threatened list and is a candidate for federal listing. Illustrations by Bill Singleton

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 15 The Chihuahuan Desert: by Cathryn A. Hoyt Diversity at Risk

block mountains Spanish ranchers and, later, American separated by down- settlers were drawn to the Chihuahuan faulted basins. Typically, Desert region by the lush grasslands and the basins are internally potential for grazing. Once, grasses in drained, resulting in the the Big Bend region of Texas were said formation of saline to have been tall enough to brush the ephemeral lakes known bellies of horses. Ranchers believed that as playas. Dune fields, the supply of grass to feed livestock was composed of quartz or unlimited. By the mid-19th century, the gypsum sand, are stocking of desert grassland ranges with common throughout the cattle, sheep, and goats was progressing desert, while volcanic at a phenomenal rate. In 1900, the desert Photo by Michael Bender features add additional grasslands of west Texas supported over The Chihuahuan Desert is a land of complexity to the landscape. 9 million herd animals, up from 500,000 superlatives. Covering nearly 250,000 The varied geology of the head in 1830. The ranges of the south- square miles (647,500 square kilome­ Chihuahuan Desert supports a mosaic of west were soon stocked to capacity with ters), it is the largest of the North vegetation communities, ranging from no overflow ranges in case of drought. American deserts. Jutting mountains and desert shrubs such as creosote (Larrea What ranchers could not know is that low basins form a range of habitats tridentata) and tarbush (Flourencia the luxuriant grasslands of the 19th suitable for a broad spectrum of terres­ cernia) at lower elevations to conifer century were the expression of a cooler, trial and freshwater species. In fact, the woodlands at higher elevations. Two wetter period that was to end abruptly at Chihuahuan Desert is considered to be features make the Chihuahuan Desert the turn of the century. After 1900, one of the most biologically diverse arid region unique: the vast temperate droughts became more frequent, and regions in the world. It is also one of the grasslands that skirt the mountain flanks grass cover on heavily grazed ranges most endangered. at mid-elevation and the diversity of declined by up to 70 percent. As yuccas and agaves. One of the agaves, warmer, drier conditions prevailed and The Landscape lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla), is heavy grazing continued, thousands of The Chihuahuan Desert stretches from considered the primary diagnostic acres of Chihuahuan Desert grasslands southern New Mexico through the Rio species of the Chihuahuan Desert. were converted to desert shrubland, a Grande drainage of west Texas/northern process that continues to this day. Mexico and spreads southward over the Modification of the Environment In addition to climate change and Mexican Plateau into the states of While some of the inaccessible, overgrazing, certain water-use practices Chihuahua, Coahuila, southwestern montane parts of the Chihuahuan Desert are having significant impacts on the Nuevo Leon, northeastern Durango, and region have floral and faunal communi­ desert. The Chihuahuan Desert is San Luis Potosí. The desert is bounded ties that are at least relatively intact, punctuated by large lake basins and to the east and west by the ranges of the much of the desert has been heavily crisscrossed by drainages—indicators of Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra disturbed by human land use. Overgraz­ a time thousands of years ago when Madre Occidental, respectively. The ing, water diversion, aquifer “mining” water was more plentiful and lakes and northern and southern boundaries, more (pumping at an unsustainable rate), and flowing rivers were abundant. With difficult to define, are usually based on overcollecting of native plants and climatic warming and drying over the such diagnostic indicators as climate, animals are considered the greatest past 10,000 years, water sources dried vegetation, or animal communities. threats to biodiversity in the Chihuahuan up, tributaries became isolated from the Basin and range topography predomi­ Desert ecoregion. main rivers, and headsprings that once nates the Chihuahuan Desert, with fault- supported interconnected pools and

16 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 species are found in Mexico, with many about Chihuahuan Desert research. of the 345 Chihuahuan Desert species Research data are presented to the found only in small areas. Because the general public through interpretive entire range of a particular cactus programs centered at the CDRI’s 507- species may be confined to a single rock acre (205-hectare) site. Here, visitors can outcrop, species can be rendered extinct participate in seminars or stroll through all too easily because of overcollecting, the 20-acre (8-ha) arboretum, where over especially for the commercial trade. 100 species of Chihuahuan Desert trees and shrubs—representing communities Some desert grasslands have survived overgrazing. Conservation and Education from the desert lowlands through the CDRI photo Conservation efforts in the conifer highlands—are grown. One of perennial streams shrank to form small, Chihuahuan Desert are complicated by the highlights of a visit to the CDRI is a isolated pools and marshy wetlands the fact that the ecoregion extends tour of the Cacti and Succulent Green- known as cienegas. Water, once rela­ across an international border and house, which houses over 300 species of tively abundant in the Chihuahuan numerous state boundaries, both in Chihuahuan Desert cacti and succulents. Desert, is now a precious—and very Mexico and the United States. Nonethe­ The more energetic visitor can hike into limited—resource. less, attention is being focused on the a protected canyon where permanent Problems arise as urban areas in the Chihuahuan Desert through the interna­ springs and pools support a diverse desert continue to expand and fertile tional, multidisciplinary efforts of freshwater ecosystem, or climb to the desert soils are put into agricultural organizations such as the World Wildlife top of an igneous outcrop to enjoy production. Up to 99 percent of the Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the spectacular views of the surrounding water in the perennial rivers of the Instituto de Ecología in Mexico, and desert grasslands. Chihuahuan Desert is diverted to federal agencies such as the National municipal water supplies or to irrigate Park Service and the U.S. Fish and fields. The consequences of current Wildlife Service. water-use practices include the loss of In addition, private organizations like native fish populations and the replace­ the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute ment of diverse riparian forests with (CDRI) are devoted to promoting an monocultures of tamarix (Tamarix spp.), awareness of the desert through research an invasive tree introduced in the 1800s. and education. Founded in 1973, the In addition to water diversion, mining CDRI encourages student research of aquifers is a serious threat to freshwa­ through scholarships and the W. Frank For more than 20 years, the Chihuahuan Desert ter species. Groundwater pumping can Blair Student Paper competition, main­ Research Institute has propagated endangered significantly lower the water table, tains a regional research library, and species of cacti for revegetation. reducing—or often completely eliminat­ serves as a clearinghouse for information CDRI photo ing—spring flow. Many cienegas of the Chihuahuan Desert once supported an Coordinated efforts of public and amazing array of endemic fish, snail, and private organizations in both Mexico and other invertebrate species. However, the United States is leading to a broader these hotspots of biodiversity are rapidly understanding of the Chihuahuan Desert being lost as groundwater pumping and the threats to its ecosystems. With lowers the watertable, reduces this understanding will come a greater springflow, and significantly decreases appreciation of the desert and new ways the number of intact cienegas. of addressing human needs while Some inhabitants of the Chihuahuan maintaining the biodiversity characteris­ Desert are imperiled simply because tic of the Chihuahuan Desert. people want to possess their own little piece of the desert in the form of a wild Dr. Hoyt is Executive Director of the plant or animal. The Chihuahuan Desert Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute in is recognized for the extraordinary Fort Davis, Texas. For more information, diversity of cacti and succulents found call Dr. Hoyt at 915/364-2499 or email there. According to the World Wildlife The endangered Chisos Mountain hedgehog cactus her at [email protected]. You can access Fund, more than one-third of all cacti Photo by Tom Alex the CDRI website at www.cdri.org.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 17 Restoring a Desert Oasis by Jody Fraser and Cynthia Martinez

Just east of Death Valley, where a 1940, and the nuclear testing program at mere 3 inches (7.5 centimeters) of rain the nearby Nevada Test Site provided a falls annually, lies the oasis of Ash source for jobs in the 1950s, increasing Meadows, Nevada, an unusual system of the demand for water. wetlands, springs, and seeps. Plentiful In Ash Meadows, the springs system sources of water in this part of the vast comprises seven major springs and over Mojave Desert are rare, and Ash Mead­ 20 smaller ones. The pools and outflows ows has drawn humans since prehistoric in the Kings Spring and Point of Rocks times. A rich variety of aquatic and Springs areas, in particular, were heavily terrestrial species also depend on this manipulated in the 1950s for aesthetic fragile, isolated ecosystem. and agricultural purposes. Farmers The perennial surface waters of the diverted water from Kings Spring into a region are supplied by an extensive concrete ditch and removed riparian ground water system that discharges vegetation to grow crops. The Ash Restoring natural vegetation along about 17,000 acre-feet (2,100 hectare- Meadows naucorid (Ambrysus Ash Meadows creek. Photo by D. Ledig/USFWS meters) each year in Ash Meadows. This amargosus), an aquatic insect, and the distinct desert ecosystem supports Ash Meadows speckled dace hundreds of plant and animal species (Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis), a small that are closely associated with, and fish, were extirpated from the Kings often dependent upon, the area’s unique Spring system shortly after people wetland and aquatic habitats. Among modified the landscape and water these species, 24 are found only in Ash courses. In the 1960s, large-scale agricul­ Meadows, constituting the largest ture and peat mining at Carson Slough in concentration of endemism for an area the northern part of Ash Meadows this size in the continental United States. caused the most significant changes to

Kings Pool, before (above) and after Twelve species are currently listed under the landscape, destroying extensive restoration the Endangered Species Act. wetlands and degrading valuable habitat USFWS photos Around 1850, a wave of settlers for endemic species. moved into the region, initiating dra­ The loss of habitats and species matic changes in the Ash Meadows area. diversity would have continued un­ Several boom and bust cycles ensued checked but for the concern of conserva­ over the course of decades, with mining tionists over the plight of the Devils Hole and agriculture being the focus of the pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis). In the early homesteaders. They altered the early 1970s, intensive water use associ­ landscape and water courses with a ated with development in the Ash series of impoundments, ditches, and Meadows area degraded wetland habitats diversions. Various nonnative fishes, and lowered the water table in Devils amphibians, plants, and invertebrates Hole, the endangered species’ only were introduced. The construction of a habitat. It became clear that the fate of railroad inspired the establishment of this tiny fish was at stake. In 1976 the freight and mercantile businesses, and U.S. Supreme Court limited the amount farmers grew fields of hay for horses and of ground water pumping in Ash other pack animals. Clay mining opera­ Meadows to ensure enough water for the tions were active from about 1916 to Devils Hole pupfish, if not for the area’s

18 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 other vulnerable species. (See accompa­ Since the reintroduction into Kings nying article.) Spring, the population has grown to Lands in Ash Meadows were later sold thousands of individuals occupying to a development company and targeted about 850 feet (260 m) of stream habitat. for municipal and residential use. Similarly, the Ash Meadows Amargosa Development had already begun to pupfish population in this system has degrade important habitats when, in more than tripled. 1984, the company decided to abandon While much of the Ash Meadows its project and sold most of its holdings ecosystem is returning to a balance and water rights to The Nature Conser­ reminiscent of its past, the job is not done. Ash Meadows blazing star vancy. Subsequently, the U.S. Fish and Photo by John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS A challenge facing resource managers Wildlife Service purchased the land and throughout the country is the invasion of the water rights to establish the Ash natural landscapes by nonnative species, Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. After agriculture fields were aban­ and Ash Meadows is no exception. Efforts The Recovery Plan for the Endan­ doned, an infestation by cattails (Typha to control nonnative species will be gered and Threatened Species of Ash domingensis) prevented the regeneration carried out well into the future as we Meadows was developed in 1990. Its of other riparian species, and the aquatic work to bring back Ash Meadows. The primary objective is to recover the listed habitat remained fragmented. A compre­ continued cooperation of state and other species and their habitats through an hensive program of spring restoration on federal agencies, as well as a concerned ecosystem approach focusing on habitat the refuge is underway, including filling public, will enable Ash Meadows to restoration and the removal of threats. of small artificial ponds, removing water remain a rich source of unique bio­ Listed species addressed in the recovery diversion features, and rehabilitating the diversity for generations to come. plan include an endangered plant, the sites to reflect the natural slope and Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila stream flow. Restored channels include Jody Fraser (775/861-6300; mohavensis); six threatened plants, the such key habitat features as riffles, gravel [email protected]) is a Botanist with spring-loving centaury (Centaurium substrate, and appropriate more natural the Service’s Nevada Fish and Wildlife namophilum), Ash Meadows ivesia water velocities. Office. Cynthia Martinez (702/515-5230; (Ivesia eremica), Ash Meadows blazing In 1997, the first significant habitat [email protected]) is Assistant star (Mentzelia leucophylla), Ash Mead­ restoration project in Ash Meadows was Field Supervisor with the Service’s ows milkvetch (Astragalus phoenix), Ash undertaken in the Kings Spring drainage, Southern Nevada Field Office. Meadows sunray (Enceliopsis nudicaulis an area severely affected by decades of var. corrugata), and Ash Meadows agricultural activities. The project was gumplant (Grindelia fraxino-pratensis); designed to mimic historic conditions by a threatened invertebrate, the Ash returning the spring outflow and drain- Ash Meadows naucorid Meadows naucorid; and four endangered age channel to a meandering stream, Photo by John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS fishes, the Devils Hole pupfish, Warm returning Kings Pool to its original Springs pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis dimensions, replacing cattails with pectoralis), Ash Meadows Amargosa species more appropriate for inhabitants pupfish (C. n. mionectes), and Ash of the aquatic and terrestrial habitats, Meadows speckled dace. and reconnecting ephemeral washes to The most important action for the the outflow channel. Restoring the entire long-term protection of the listed species watershed was essential to improving the was the initial purchase of land and status of the listed fishes and the water rights to establish the refuge. It naucorid in this spring system. ended activities detrimental to the The summer following restoration, 22 species and their habitats, such as naucorids were reintroduced into the residential and agricultural development, outflow of Kings Spring, and an addi­ surface mining, and grazing by wild tional 17 were introduced the next year. horses. Restoration of historic stream This restoration and reintroduction effort flows was also identified as a key has been a great success. Prior to the element in the recovery of the spring project, naucorid populations were system and its aquatic species. limited to the upper 50 feet (15 meters) of the Point of Rocks Springs system.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 19 Desert Fish: by Linus Chen Life on the Edge

Ash Meadows speckled dace Photo by John & Karen Hollingsworth/USFWS

smallest at 3/4 inch (1.9 cm), is the only pupfish not to show aggressive territorial behavior.) During the year-round breeding season, the more colorful and deeper-bodied males of most pupfish taxa will pursue females into an area with fine sand, silt, and perhaps algae. After an elaborate courtship display by the male pupfish, the female deposits one or two eggs, which the male immediately fertilizes. Large female pupfish can lay about 25 eggs per day and may spawn with different males Fairbanks Springs, a small oasis in A few miles away, in Scruggs, Indian, each day. The eggs may be protected by the Nevada desert, resembles a large hot Marsh, and School springs, lives the the territorial behavior of males, but in tub from the bottom of which someone Warm Springs Amargosa pupfish (C. n. general there is no parental care of the forgot to scrub the algae. Fortunately, pectoralis). The Ash Meadows speckled eggs. In warmer springs, pupfish can algae thrive in this spring pool, for they dace (Rhinichthys osculus nevadensis) reach sexual maturity at 2 to 4 months, are integral to the life cycle of the Ash may still be found at Jack Rabbit and and live for 6 to 9 months after reaching Meadows Amargosa pupfish Bradford springs, and the only natural the free swimming stage. Pupfish living (Cyprinodon nevadensis mionectes). population of the Devils Hole pupfish in cooler waters grow more slowly, but The subspecies name “mionectes” is (C. diabolis) occurs at, well, Devils Hole. they may live for 2 to 3 years. derived from the Greek, meaning “one Some Devils Hole pupfish are being held Tens of thousands of years ago, in a having less.” In this case, it refers to a in refugia to form new populations in much different climate, Nevada’s Mojave reduced number of scales and fin-rays. case anything happens to the species’ Desert was a region of interconnected Besides laying their eggs in the algae, native habitat. rivers and lakes. In recent millennia, as these 1.3-inch (3.4-centimeter) long All 16 desert pupfish taxa native to the region became drier, waters receded pupfish feed on algae (and the occa- the American Southwest, in addition to and many kinds of fish were unable to sional insect or snail in the algae). With 16 species from Mexico (6 of which have survive the harsher conditions. With very its inviting sapphire- colored bottom and not yet been described scientifically), are few competitors, pupfish thrived and warm temperature, which ranges from considered to be endangered, threat- later evolved into different species as 81 to 88° F (27 to 31° C), the spring-fed ened, or of special concern. Pupfish groups became isolated in scattered pool might be seen as an appealing were named for their active, puppy-like springs and streams. This situation is place to take a bath. But as tempting as behavior. But behind that playful analogous to that of the Galapagos it would be, wading into Fairbanks behavior lurks the ferocity of a junkyard Islands, where Darwin drew inspiration Springs would be a bad idea because the dog, at least when it comes to males for his theory of evolution, except that pupfish, an endangered species, could defending their territory from other male the pupfish evolved in “islands” of water accidentally be harmed. pupfish. (The Devils Hole pupfish, the within a desert “sea.”

20 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 But after surviving for thousands of their thirsty roots and concentrate salts in (3 by 10 m). Past the second shelf lies years, these “living fossils”—Ash Mead­ their leaves, transforming valuable desert the real deep end of Devils Hole, which ows Amargosa pupfish, Warm Springs streams and ponds into dry, salty basins. extends to unknown, abyss-like depths. pupfish, and Devils Hole pupfish—face Over the past few years, however, the Divers from the U.S. Geological Survey serious threats to their future. Although tide has turned in favor of these endan­ once descended 300 feet (91 m) into the some of the early identified threats (such gered pupfish. Vigilant volunteers and waters of Devils Hole but they never as development of the springs within biologists from the U.S. Geological touched bottom. Ash Meadows) have been resolved, Survey’s Biological Resource Division, Although Devils Hole pupfish have continuing development near Las Vegas, the Nevada Division of Wildlife, and the been found as deep as 80 feet (24 m), Nevada, has created more demand for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been life for this species centers on the groundwater near the refuge. Because removing exotic species and taking other shallowest ledge, where the fish lay their much of the desert area receives less actions to rehabilitate the spring habitats. eggs and feed on the algae that cover than 2.5 inches (10 cm) of rain annually, As a result, the Service hopes to be able the shelf. The number of pupfish in virtually all of the water at and around to propose delisting the Ash Meadows Devils Hole fluctuates seasonally Ash Meadows is “fossil” water, or water Amargosa pupfish and three Ash Mead­ between 200 and 700 individuals. that is believed to have entered the ows plants before long. With improve­ In 1976, a Supreme Court decision aquifer thousands of years ago. When it ments in habitat and exotic species stopped local pumping that was lower­ is extracted from the ground at a rate control, the future of some pupfish may ing the water table and threatening the faster than rainfall enters the ground, no longer be going down the drain. Devils Hole pupfish. The Nature Conser­ less water bubbles up from the springs vancy purchased Ash Meadows in 1984 for the pupfish. What little water there is Life on the Ledge and later sold it to the Service to estab­ in Ash Meadows for the pupfish is being The future of another Ash Meadows lish a National Wildlife Refuge. This invaded by nonnative species. Some of species, the Devils Hole pupfish, is still protected the aquifer and ensures that these species, such as largemouth bass, perched precariously upon a narrow the shallow ledge in Devils Hole, so vital bullfrogs, and crayfish, may prey on ledge. Devils Hole, the only natural to the pupfish, will not become a pupfish, while exotic fishes such as habitat for this pupfish, is akin to a “sunbathing deck.” mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and community swimming pool with a sailfin mollies (Poecilia latipinna) may shallow section and a deep end. The Linus Chen is a Presidential Manage­ compete with the pupfish for space and shallow “kiddie” section is a 10 by 20- ment Internship Fellow and the National food (and prey upon the baby pupfish foot (3 by 6-meter) limestone shelf 0.4 to Listing Litigation Coordinator for the “pups”). Invasive plants such as saltcedar 27 inches (1 to 70 cm) under water. Endangered Species Program’s national (Tamarix spp.), an exotic plant from Beyond the ledge lies a second, deeper office in Arlington, Virginia; 703/358- Asia and Europe, drain the springs with shelf with a surface area of 10 by 33 feet 2106; [email protected].

Ash Meadows pupfish (male at top, female at bottom) USFWS photo

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 21 Life in Mauna Kea’s by Mike Richardson Alpine Desert

Lycosa wolf spiders, a centipede that preys on moribund insects that are blown to the summit, and the unique, flightless wekiu bug. A candidate for federal listing as an endangered species, the wekiu bug was first discovered in 1979 by entomologists on Pu‘u Wekiu, the summit cinder cone. “Wekiu” is Hawaiian for “topmost” or “summit.” The wekiu bug belongs to the family Lygaeidae within the order of insects known as Heteroptera (true bugs). Most of the 26 endemic Hawaiian Nysius species use a tube-like beak to feed on native plant seed heads, but the wekiu bug uses its beak to suck the hemolymph (blood) from other insects. High above the sunny beaches, rocky coastline, Excluding its close relative Nysius a‘a on the nearby Mauna Loa, the wekiu bug and lush, tropical forests of the Big Island of Hawai‘i differs from all the world’s 106 Nysius lies a unique environment unknown even to many species in its predatory habits and unusual physical characteristics. The bug residents. The harsh, barren, cold alpine desert is so possesses nearly microscopically small hostile that it may appear devoid of life. However, a wings and has the longest, thinnest legs few species existing nowhere else have formed a pre- and the most elongated head of any Lygaeid bug in the world. carious ecosystem-in-miniature of insects, spiders, The wekiu bug, about the size of a other arthropods, and simple plants and lichens. Wel­ grain of rice, is most often found under rocks and cinders where it preys diur­ come to the summit of Mauna Kea! nally (during daylight) on insects and Rising 13,796 feet (4,205 meters) dependent) community of arthropods even birds that are blown up from lower above sea level, Mauna Kea is the was uncovered at the summit. elevations and have died of exposure. highest island mountain in the world. It Aeolian ecosystems are usually found Both nymph and adult wekiu bugs is a gigantic classic shield volcano, and within alpine deserts. They are charac­ remain active all year, and use snow to the broad landscape of its summit is an terized by a low number of primary their advantage by feeding on insects alpine desert composed of cinder cones producers, except for a few algae, that are either preserved or immobilized on a lava plateau. The upper summit mosses, and lichens, and a community by the cold. They emerge from the forms an alpine lava community sparsely of mostly arthropod predators and cinders to feed and mate when the sun vegetated with leafy lichens and moss. scavengers that feed on organisms has warmed the rock surfaces, particu­ Prior to the 1980s, most people believed blown up from lower elevations. The larly at the margins of snow fields. the summit was essentially a lifeless unique aeolian ecosystem on Mauna Apparently, they will remain along the desert. However, starting in 1979 with Kea’s summit is composed of at least 12 narrow melting perimeter of a snowfield the discovery of the wekiu bug (Nysius endemic arthropods, including omnivo­ to take advantage of any frozen insects wekiuicola), an entire aeolian (wind- rous, day-flying Agrotis moths, voracious that drop from the receding snowfield.

22 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 Should a shadow cross the sun when the CCA to facilitate voluntary coopera­ wekiu bugs are foraging in this moist, tion with the Office of Mauna Kea food-rich habitat, they will quickly Management (the state office that retreat deep into the cinders. oversees activities and development), the University of Hawaii Institute for As­ Threats to Mauna Kea Arthropods tronomy, and the numerous agencies Because of ideal atmospheric qualities and organizations involved in astronomi­ and weather conditions, the University of cal activities on the Mauna Kea summit. Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy has developed the summit as the Mauna Kea Science Reserve for astronomical study. Environmental impacts include road construction, parking areas, tourist facilities, temporary storage areas, substrate removal, oil spills, and constant traffic to the summit (with the resulting trash and debris). Tephra cinders, the preferred substrate of the wekiu bug and other Mauna Kea arthropods, are easily crushed into dust-sized particles, and vehicular traffic can quickly change a rocky cinder habitat to one of com­ pacted silt and mud. Since 1963, when the first modern road was bulldozed to the summit, some researchers estimate approximately 62 acres (25 hectares) of potential arthropod habitat have been Such protection will include monitoring Wekiu bug lost to astronomy-related development of species status trends and habitat Photo by Dr. Bill Mull on the summit. Currently, more than two quality, removing some of the known (Opposite page) Sunset at the alpine threats, educating field personnel and thirds of the wekiu bug’s potential range desert of Mauna Kea’s summit is unprotected from this development. permittees, habitat restoration, and Photo by Mick Castillo/USFWS The wekiu bug now competes for incorporating species conservation prey with at least one introduced species measures into planning and management of Linyphiidae spider (small sheet web activities. If successful, this CCA would spiders) that has become established on remove the need to list the wekiu bug the summit. Furthermore, global warm­ under the Endangered Species Act and ing may potentially threaten all of the would also conserve several other endemic Mauna Kea arthropods. The endemic species, including the wolf summit has been warmer and has had spider and the Agrotis moths. The CCA reduced snowfall since 1982. In addition, complements the Pacific Islands Office’s if available habitat is seriously reduced Ecosystem Conservation Plan for preser­ by summit development, the wekiu bug vation, protection, and management of will likely be less capable of responding native habitat on the summit of Mauna and surviving during climatic changes. Kea, which the plan has identified as a Biodiversity Landscape. Protecting Mauna Kea Arthropods A Candidate Conservation Agreement Mike Richardson is the Pacific Inverte­ (CCA) to provide long-term protection brates Coordinator with the Service’s for endemic Mauna Kea arthropods, Pacific Islands Ecological Services Office including the wekiu bug and its habitat, in Honolulu, Hawaii; (808) 541-3441; is in the early planning stages. The Fish [email protected]. and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Islands Ecological Services Office is developing

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 23 The Tarahumara Frog: by Jim Rorabaugh and Jeff Humphrey Return of a Native

For almost two decades, the Tarahumara frog (Rana tarahumarae) has been absent from the southern Arizona canyons and deep plunge pools to which it had adapted over millennia. Today, the Tarahumara Frog Conservation Team, a consor­ tium of researchers, interested members of the public, and representatives from state and federal wildlife and land management agencies, is making strides toward returning this extirpated species to Arizona.

24 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 The Tarahumara frog is known Steve Hale, an expert on the historically from 63 localities within Tarahumara frog, and Kim Field, montane canyons from extreme southern Arizona Game and Fish Department, examine the frog’s Arizona south to northern Sinaloa and historic plunge pool habitat in southwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. Its Sycamore Canyon, Arizona, near range is thought to be centered in the the Mexican border. northern Sierra Madre Occidental of All photos by Jim Rorabaugh Mexico, but the eastern and southern distributional limits are not clear. Most localities are in the mountains of eastern Wildlife Service in Sonora. In the United States, the frog Phoenix. The egg mass was known historically from only six contained about 850-900 locales in Arizona near the Mexican eggs and hatched 8 days border, including three in the Santa Rita after collection. The Mountains and three in the Atascosa- tadpoles grew rapidly, Pajarito-Tumacacori mountain complex, and many were moved to but it became extirpated from all six. other rearing facilities in The last observation of a Tarahumara Arizona, including frog in Arizona was in May 1983 in Big aquaria and more natural Casa Blanca Canyon in the Santa Rita settings at the Arizona- Mountains, Arizona. Sonora Desert Museum, Throughout its range, the Tarahumara San Bernardino National frog is typically associated with canyons Wildlife Refuge, Buenos and deep plunge pools formed among Aires National Wildlife boulders or in bedrock. Plunge pools in Refuge, Coronado canyons with low mean flows (less than National Memorial, and 0.2 cubic feet/second or 5.6 liters/second) Arizona State University. and relatively steep gradients (more than nonnative fishes and bullfrogs was The first young metamorphosed frogs 196 feet/mile or 60 meters/kilometer of probably an important factor in the were observed outdoors at the Buenos stream) provide the best breeding sites. disappearance of the species from Pena Aires Refuge only 86 days after hatching. Permanent water is probably necessary Blanca Spring and portions of Pena This was a surprise because we thought for metamorphosis. Suitable Tarahumara Blanca Canyon, Arizona. the tadpoles normally took at least a frog habitats are located within oak and A restoration program developed by year to become frogs. Perhaps warm pine-oak woodlands and in the Pacific the Tarahumara Frog Conservation Team water and an abundance of high quality coast tropical area (Sinaloan thornscrub calls for reestablishing the frog into at food resulted in faster development. and tropical deciduous forest) on the least two of its historic localities in However, only a portion of the tadpoles edge of the desert. Arizona. The team has identified Big metamorphosed rapidly; others grew Why the Tarahumara frog disap­ Casa Blanca Canyon in the Santa Rita more slowly. As of September 2001, a peared from Arizona is not clear. Mountains and Sycamore Canyon in the few were still tadpoles. Could some Probably a combination of factors is Pajarito Mountains as the two favored tadpoles be “programmed” to metamor­ responsible, including winter cold, sites. Because the factors leading to the phose rapidly, while others are not? This flooding, severe drought, competition, frog’s extirpation at these sites may still phenomenon has been observed in predation, disease, and heavy metal exist, the reestablished populations will other frogs and may be an adaptation for poisoning. Airborne pollutants from be considered experimental and will be maximizing frog production and survival copper smelters or acidic rain that monitored carefully to identify any under a variety of environmental mobilizes naturally-occurring metals near persistent problems. conditions. Many of the frogs that streams may have resulted in toxic levels In May 2000, part of a Tarahumara metamorphosed early are now adults, of cadmium. Chytridiomycosis, a fungal frog egg mass was collected from the and some have bred at the Arizona- disease implicated in global declines of Sierra La Madera in northern Sonora (the Sonora Desert Museum. In the summer frogs and toads, was found recently in closest known population to historic of 2001, the Detroit Zoo’s National populations of the Tarahumara frog, and localities in the United States.) and Amphibian Conservation Center joined has likely contributed to observed imported to Arizona under permit for as a cooperator in the project and is now declines and extirpations. Predation by initial rearing by the U.S. Fish and rearing young Tarahumara frogs.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 25 Because all of our captive frogs originated from a single egg mass, we will need additional collections from the wild to establish genetically strong popula­ tions. Even then, we must breed the frogs selectively to maximize genetic diver­ sity. Recent successes with captive breeding at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are encouraging. If this approach turns out to be successful in the long run, captive breeding will reduce the need to remove additional animals from wild populations in Sonora. Today, we have about 350-400 frogs and tadpoles, which we’ll hold until we have approval to release them into historic habitats. With funding from the Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Free Trade Agreement Borderlands Program, the Tarahumara Frog Conservation Team and the Arizona Game and Fish Depart­ ment are pursuing approval from the Ari­ zona Game and Fish Com- The Tarahumara frog lacks the bold, distinct mission (a separate state dorsolateral folds characteristic of related leopard entity) to reestablish the frogs and other ranid species. The larvae are frog in Big Casa Blanca greenish-yellow with small dark spots over the and Sycamore canyons in dorsum and larger spots on the tail, and they grow as 2002. Several releases will large as 3.8 inches (97 millimeters) prior to likely be needed to estab- metamorphosis. Juvenile and adult frogs of both sexes have a call consisting of a low grunt of about lish viable populations of one-half second in duration, uttered once or twice or the frog. sometimes more. For more information about the ecology, status, rearing, and conservation of the Tarahumara frog, visit the Service’s Arizona Ecological Services Office website at http:// arizonaes.fws.gov/T-frog3.htm.

Jim Rorabaugh is Supervisory Fish and Wildlife Biologist in the Arizona Ecological Services Field Office in Phoenix; (602) 242-0210 ext. 238; [email protected]. Jeff Humphrey is the Public Outreach Specialist at the same office; (602) 242-0210 ext. 222, [email protected].

26 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 Leading-edge Science for Imperiled Bonytail by Craig Springer

The grasslands of southeastern New spring that ultimately will make their Mexico, known mostly for cattle, crops, way back into the wilds of the Colorado and an occasional UFO crash report, River and its many large tributaries, seem an unlikely place for leading-edge which comprise the fish’s native habitat. biotechnology. But the little town of “With so few adults left in the world, Dexter, essentially a service center for it is of paramount importance that ranchers and farmers, is host to a state- scientific principles guide bonytail chub of-the-art National Fish Hatchery and management,” says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Technology Center. Good water led to Service geneticist Connie Keeler-Foster. The Dexter facility is unique. It’s one the center’s founding in 1931, and game Toward that end, she has employed of 70 hatcheries operated by the Fish fishes were the focus then, but since leading-edge technology to manage the and Wildlife Service around the 1990 its primary mission has been bonytail chub stock on the genetic level. country, but is the only one dedicated technology development for managing The center’s laboratory was recently entirely to the conservation of rare fish species such as the bonytail equipped with a DNA sequencer, an endangered fish. chub (Gila elegans). apparatus that allows her to identify The bonytail chub is one of the most individual fish by their genes. imperiled vertebrates in North America. The work can be likened to finger- The not-so-gentle hand of nature has printing. Knowing the genetic makeup of shaped the body of this fish over eons to the entire brood stock, essentially having fit its environment. A keel on its nape a pedigree chart, permits the center and a tightly fusiform body have allowed scientists to selectively pair up males and it to prevail in the harshest of conditions: females for mating. And therein lies the turbulent and turbid water that is crux for survival, the strands in the warmed by the intense southwestern thread. Picking mates that are most sun. It was built for survival in a region genetically divergent produces offspring where life can be a continuing struggle. that are more fit to face the rigors of life The bonytail chub occurred historically in the wild. “Mates well suited for each throughout the Colorado River and its other may produce young that are less Injecting bonytail chub for spawning main tributaries, but its range has been prone to disease,” notes Keeler-Foster. Photo by Peter J. Carboni/USFWS reduced to a few larger channels of the “They themselves are more likely to reach Colorado River system and to lower adulthood and produce their own young parts of the Virgin River in Nevada. in the wild. And that’s what we want.” Changes in stream flows and water The end product, a reproducing temperatures, direct loss of free-flowing population in the wild, is far removed habitat due to inundation by reservoirs, from the day-to-day work of the technol­ blockage of migration routes, and the ogy center. But having sound science is introduction of non-native fishes are the the first step in conserving a species that primary factors responsible for the stares extinction squarely in the face. Bonytail chub Photo by Craig Springer/USFWS species’ decline. The bonytail hangs on, if only by a Craig Springer is a Fishery Biologist thread. That thread is a lifeline cast at with the Division of Fisheries in the the technology center. Scientists there Service’s Albuquerque Regional Office; have developed a brood stock, a captive 505/248-6867; [email protected]. population of adults, to produce off-

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 27 Las Vegas Places its Bets by Randi Thompson on Habitat Plan

The goal of the 5-million-acre (2- million-hectare) MSHCP is to conserve healthy functioning ecosystems and the species supported by them (see sidebar). It is one of the most far-reaching Habitat Conservation Plans in the nation, covering 78 species, 11 ecosystems, and 145,000 acres (58,000 ha) that are subject to development over the next 30 years. The committee that developed the MSHCP was composed of federal, state, and local government agencies; environ­ mental groups such as The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, and Conserva­ tion Fund; university and independent scientists; and resource users such as the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, Southern Nevada Water Authority, mining and grazing interests, and off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. To meet the goals of the MSHCP, the plan incorporates all lands, both federal and non-federal, in a reserve design. The Bureau of Land Management, National More than 100 people gathered at the Red Rock Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National Conservation Area near Las Vegas, Nevada, on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are critical participants in the plan’s implementation. November 1, 2000, to celebrate the approval of the The plan incorporates a science-based Clark County Multi Species Habitat Conservation Plan adaptive management process that provides a flexible, interactive approach (MSHCP). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been to long-term management of biological working for more than 10 years with a wide array of resources. Monitoring will be used to evaluate and periodically modify, as interests to conserve habitat around Las Vegas for the necessary, management techniques and threatened Mojave population of the desert tortoise specific objectives. The plan will provide an analysis of all land use trends to (Gopherus agassizii). The Desert Conservation Plan ensure that take and habitat disturbance this group crafted was signed in 1995. But Clark are balanced with solid conservation. County soon initiated the MSHCP process to broaden Clark County will continue to collect a $550 per-acre fee established under the the scope of the conservation plan, addressing the original Desert Conservation Plan and needs of many other sensitive species that could be will expend those funds, approximately $2 million a year, on actions to minimize affected by urban development.

28 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 The Clark County MSHCP area 4. Pinyon-juniper—mountain shrub, pin- major plant communities, Mojave mixed includes all of Clark County, yon, pinyon-juniper, and juniper community scrub and creosote-bursage. Provides habi­ Nevada’s most populated county types at elevations ranging from 4,900 to 8,200 tat for 24 covered species. (more than 1.4 million people, feet (1,500 to 2,500 m). Provides habitat for 30 or about 70 percent of the state covered species. 9. Mesquite and catclaw community— total). The 11 ecosystems it ad- nested within Mojave desert scrub biogeo­ dresses are: 5. Sagebrush—sagebrush/perennial grass graphically but managed at the ecosystem community types, found in the Spring, Sheep, level, the mesquite and catclaw commu­ 1. Alpine—herbaceous, high-altitude tun­ and Virgin Mountains, typically ranging from nity provides habitat for 11 covered species. dra vegetation, generally above timberline; 4,900 to 9,200 feet (1,500 to 2,800 m). Pro­ characteristically sparse with low vegeta­ vides habitat for 20 covered species. 10. Desert riparian/aquatic—associated tion adapted to winter snowfalls and gener­ with rivers and streams, generally below ally cold temperatures. Provides habitat for 6. Blackbrush community—typically con­ 4,000 feet; primarily includes Virgin and 10 covered species. sidered part of the Mojave desert scrub ecosys­ Muddy rivers, Las Vegas Valley Wash, and tem but managed at the ecosystem level; Colorado River. Provides habitat for 14 cov­ 2. Bristlecone pine—found in Spring occurs on upper bajadas (alluvial fans), slopes, ered species, half of which are water de- and Sheep mountains, ranging in eleva­ and valleys below 5,900 feet (1,800 m). Pro­ pendent. tion from 9,000 to 11,500 feet (2,740 to vides habitat for 11 covered species. 3,500 meters) on exposed, dry, rocky slopes 11. Perennial springs—Over 500 known and ridges; comprises evergreen conifer 7. Salt desert scrub—occurs between 3,250 springs are widely distributed from high woodland dominated by bristlecone pine. and 5,800 feet (990 and 1,770 m) in a mosaic mountains to low deserts; most are cold- Provides habitat for 24 covered species. pattern within stands of creosote-bursage and water springs and vary from small, iso­ blackbrush communities. Provides habitat for lated pools with short spring-brooks to 3. Mixed conifer—includes white fir, pon­ 16 covered species. larger spring-fed rivers such as Muddy derosa pine, and ponderosa pine/moun­ River. One covered species is associated tain shrub community types; found in 8) Mojave Desert—smallest of the four North with springs. Spring and Sheep Mountains on generally American deserts, although most widespread north- and east-facing slopes. Provides ecosystem in Clark County. Shrublands occur habitat for 33 covered species. below 4,000 feet (1,220 m) and include two

and mitigate the effects of incidental take on listed species under the MSHCP.

Randi Thompson is the Public Affairs Officer in the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office in Reno; (775)861-6300; [email protected].

(Opposite page) Valley of Fire State Park, part of the Clark County MSHCP reserve. Photo by Carol McKim

(At right) Desert tortoise Photo by Beth Jackson/USFWS

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 29 Arizona Tribal by Marty Jakle and Jeff Humphrey Partnerships for Wildlife

�������� Arizona’s 23 Native American tribes own 20 million ��� ���� ��� acres (8 million hectares), or about 28 percent of the �������� state. Most of these holdings are relatively undevel­ oped, making tribes an important focus of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in Arizona. The Partners program provides project to protect an endangered plant. financial and technical support to private The rare Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus landowners who want to improve fish (Echinocactus horizonthalonius var. and wildlife habitat on their land. To nicholii) is known to grow in small date, we have worked with the Hualapai, patches in only three desert mountain Hopi, Tohono O’odham, Navajo, White “islands” within the Sonoran Desert of Mountain and San Carlos Apache, Zuni, southern Arizona and one in Sonora, and Colorado River Indian Tribes to Mexico. One of these sites is in the restore important habitat. The projects Schuk Toak District of the Tohono have run a wide gamut, from installing O’odham Nation in southern Arizona. barriers to protect Apache trout During a survey for the cactus in (Oncorhynchus apache) from nonnative 1997, biologists found evidence that fishes, to restoring wetlands, to develop­ javelina (Pecari tajacu) or desert bighorn ing native tree nurseries for use in sheep (Ovis canadensis var. mexicanus), replanting riparian habitats. or both, were eating the Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus in parts of its range. To Tohono O’odham Nation protect the cactus, tribal members In 1999, the Partners program joined erected exclosures in rugged terrain on the Tohono O’odham Nation in a unique two mountain peaks on Tohono

Apache trout USFWS photo

30 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 (Counter-clockwise from upper left) Javelinas (Tayassu tajacu) are known to eat some species of cacti, including the Nichol’s Turk’s head. Photo by Tom Stehn/USFWS Jose Enriquez of the Tohono O’odham Nation packed material high into the cactus’ mountain habitat to fence out javelinas. Photo by Bob Schmalzel The Nichol’s Turk’s head cactus in bloom Photo by Bob Schmalzel Schuk Toak District Chairman Joe Juan, cactus expert and private consultant Bob Schmalzel, Schuk Toak Distrct Vice Chairman Ron Widener, and Jose Enriquez stand in front of a Partners for Fish and Wildlife sign on the fence around a cactus patch. Photo by Marty Jakle

O’odham Nation lands. The project Native American approaches to the required transporting 39-inch (1-meter) management of natural resources can be wide fencing and 6-foot (2-m) metal T- quite different from the scientific and posts to remote sites by horseback. To regulatory approaches follow up on this project, tribal biologists used by other land man­ are collecting information about condi­ agers. However, through tions such as droughts that may lead partnerships with tribes, wildlife to consume the cactus. the cultural and biodi­ versity values of the land Pueblo of Zuni can be protected and Along the Little Colorado River, about restored. 250 miles (400 kilometers) to the north, the Pueblo of Zuni is restoring an 80- Marty Jakle is the Ari­ acre (32-ha) site where Zuni spirits and zona coordinator for the ancestors reside. The Partners program is Service’s Partners for Fish contributing to the use of earth-moving and Wildlife Program; equipment and water-control structures 604/242-0210 ext. 213; for restoring riparian and wetland [email protected]. Jeff habitats along a river dried by decades Humphrey is the Public Affairs Officer in of groundwater pumping, reservoir the Arizona Ecological Services Field The yellow-billed cuckoo and other construction, and unrestricted livestock Office, Phoenix; 602/ 242-0210 ext. 222, neotropical migratory birds should grazing. In the future, when Pueblo [email protected]. benefit from restored riparian habitat on the Pueblo at Zuni. leaders make their quadrennial religious Photo © B. Moose Peterson/WRP pilgrimage to the area, they’ll find the valley once again shared by neotropical migratory birds, including waterfowl and shorebirds, rails, yellow-billed cuckoos (Coccyzus americanus), and the endan­ gered southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus).

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 31 New Mexico’s Little by Antonia Nevarez Known Treasures

Many of the 27 plants the town of Grants, along the Rio San been captured for domestic uses, Jose, in and around the town of Santa reducing the size of wetlands. Nonnative and 13 animals in New Rosa, and near the Pecos River from just tamarisk or saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) has Mexico that are listed north of Roswell to just north of Dexter. invaded many wetlands, and others have In Texas, it is found just north of Fort been drained and filled. Wetland losses, nationally as endangered Stockton and in Balmorhea. Most sites although probably slower than in the or threatened species can contain only a few acres of wetland past, still continue. Livestock also will eat habitat, but several are more extensive. the Pecos sunflower and can eliminate a be considered desert na­ The number of plants at each site varies population if grazing is continuous. tives. The types of chal­ from only a few to many thousands. Sites where the Pecos sunflower lenges facing these spe­ Much of the wetland habitat on which occurs are owned and managed by a Pecos sunflower depends has been lost variety of federal, state, tribal, municipal, cies are illustrated by two or degraded. Many springs, particularly and private interests. Six sites are on of our state’s lesser known in Texas, are now dry due to ground lands managed by the U.S. Fish and water pumping for irrigation. The free Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Manage­ creatures, the Pecos sun- flow of many remaining springs has ment, or National Park Service; one site flower and Socorro isopod.

Pecos Sunflower The Pecos sunflower (Helianthus paradoxus) is an annual that looks much like the common sunflower seen along roadsides and other disturbed areas throughout North America. This plant is also called the puzzle sunflower or paradox sunflower. It flowers from July to October, generally later in the year than the common sunflower. Pecos sunflower is the only sunflower in the Southwest that requires permanent wetlands for its survival. It grows around the outflow of springs, in marshes, or sometimes at the edges of lakes or streams in soils that are usually some- what saline. The abundance of plants at each location depends on the availability of water; the sunflowers will disappear if a site dries out. The Pecos sunflower is found at 25 sites within five areas in New Mexico and Texas. In New Mexico, it grows near

Pecos sunflower USFWS photo

32 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 is on a state park; four sites are managed by the town of Santa Rosa; one site is managed by the Pueblo of Laguna Tribe; and 12 sites are managed by private individuals or organizations. Some other sites are within state or federal highway rights-of-way. New Mexico lists the Pecos sunflower as endangered under the state’s own Endangered Plant Species Act. Socorro isopod, shown next to Significant populations of the Pecos a pencil point for scale sunflower occur on Bitter Lake National Photo by Brian Lang/New Mexico Wildlife Refuge near Roswell, New Department of Game and Fish Mexico, and at The Nature Conservancy’s Diamond Y Preserve near Fort Stockton, The Socorro isopod is a member of thermal water in its native habitat, the Texas. Both areas are being managed as the order Isopoda, which is distin­ Socorro isopod is in a very precarious natural ecosystems to benefit native guished from other orders of the class situation. As a precaution, as well as for wildlife, including endangered species. Crustacea by its flattened body and research purposes, a population of the As part of the recovery effort for the seven pairs of legs. It differs from other Socorro isopod is also being housed at Pecos sunflower, the State Land Office isopods in New Mexico by being aquatic the Albuquerque Biological Park. and the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and having two pairs of oar-like append- Conservation measures prescribed and Natural Resources Department are ages (uropods) attached to the abdomen. under the Socorro Isopod Recovery Plan teaming up to plant seeds near Roswell Socorro isopods are grayish-brown, include: 1) maintenance and enhance­ and Fort Sumner, with support from a marked with black spots on the dorsal ment of the Sedillo Spring habitat; 2) $5,000 federal grant. Grazing lease surface, and are bone colored beneath. reintroduction into suitable former holders on state trust land have volun­ In some individuals, the exposed edges habitat; 3) captive propagation; 4) teered to set aside several small areas for of the body can be tinged with orange. continued legal protection; 5) public the project. The primary food sources for the education; and 6) continuing reviews of Socorro isopod are bacteria, algae, the isopod’s status. During the past 20 Socorro Isopod detritus, and aquatic worms. The Socorro years, conservation efforts have for the The Socorro isopod (Thermosphae­ isopod is primarily crepuscular (active at species focused on these tasks with roma thermophilus) is one of only seven dawn and dusk), swimming as well as varying degrees of success. freshwater species in the Sphaeromidae, crawling. During the day, it burrows into The biggest problem for both the an otherwise marine family of isopods. the substrate and seeks shaded cover. Socorro isopod and the Pecos sunflower, This small crustacean is similar to the This species is ovoviviparous, mean­ as well as New Mexico’s other 38 listed terrestrial pill bug but is aquatic and is ing that the eggs develop within the species, has been habitat loss. Conserv­ found in only one thermal spring near female and the young are born alive. ing enough quality habitat for these Socorro, New Mexico. Temperatures in The gestation period is approximately 30 plants and animals to regain a secure the spring range from 88 to 90 degrees F days. Females are able to produce future will be our greatest challenge. (31 to 32 degrees C). In the late 1970s, broods every 2 months, depending on the water flowing from the thermal food and temperature. The number of Antonia Nevarez is an Office Automa­ spring was diverted for the development gravid females peaks in April and once tion Specialist and Outreach Specialist in of a spa. The spa has since gone out of again in late summer, but reproduction the Service’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, business; however, the diversion con- occurs year round. Ecological Services Field Office. fined the animal to two small concrete- The survival of the isopod depends lined troughs, where it appears to be on an uninterrupted flow of thermal persisting. This is the only site in the wild water. This species is known to occupy where Socorro isopods can be found. A only one spring system, but in the past it refugium population is being maintained may have occurred in others in the at a facility near Socorro, New Mexico, to vicinity of Socorro, New Mexico, includ­ provide stock for reintroduction into the ing two that have been capped. The wild in the event that the wild popula­ current population in Sedillo Spring is tion is lost due to drought, contaminants, extremely limited by the extent of or habitat degradation. habitat. Even with a continuing flow of

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 33 Rio Grande by Ben Ikenson Silvery Minnow

In contrast to some fish eggs that take months to incubate, Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus) eggs hatch in about 24 hours into larvae that can swim in just 3 to 4 days. It is no surprise that a species so programmed for survival once dominated a biological niche that spanned 3,000 meandering miles (4,825 kilometers) from Colorado to Texas. Rio Grande silvery minnow Now that habitat changes have On May 10, 2001, after an increase in USFWS photo brought the minnow to the very edge of the river’s flow (a natural spawning cue extinction, its remarkable reproductive for the silvery minnow), biologists strategy is less favorable, largely because deployed devices that rescued more than its eggs are semi-buoyant. They often 100,000 egg from the waters above drift down the Rio Grande until they are Elephant Butte. The eggs were added to deposited into the deep and inhospitable a captive population of silvery minnows waters of the 36,000-acre (14,570- at the Albuquerque Biological Park. hectare) Elephant Butte Reservoir, where Steven Platania, a research biologist we believe the eggs are consumed by under contract to the Bureau of Recla­ predatory fish. In short, the minnow’s mation, coordinated this year’s egg biological proficiency does little to foster collections. He says, “In addition to its survival in the modified world to salvaging Rio Grande silvery minnow which this fish desperately clings. eggs for transport to refugia and use at In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife breeding and rearing facilities, this year’s Service initiated a silvery minnow egg work will provide important preliminary salvage pilot project. Biologists from the information on the timing and duration Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and of spawning of the Rio Grande silvery University of New Mexico collect minnow. We believe that in the future, minnow eggs as well as reproductively- monitoring the level of reproduction of ready adult minnows near Elephant this species will be paramount if we are Butte, where these efforts do not disturb to assess the success of planned reintro­ upstream populations. Captured adult duction efforts.” minnows are induced to spawn, either at Chris Altenbach, Assistant Curator of the Albuquerque Biological Park or the Fishes for the Biological Park, manages Service’s New Mexico Fishery Resources one of the captive propagation facilities Office. Biologists then either return the that have proven instrumental in sustain­ resulting fish to the Rio Grande or hold ing the species. “We hold a significant them for captive propagation. portion of the captive population here,” he says. “Part of the success of the

34 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 captive rearing project has been the done in concert with habitat restoration cooperation between the Fish and and water quality improvements.” Wildlife Service and the city of Albuquer­ Some of the improvements needed by que, and the city is looking to continue the minnow are a sustained supply of funding these kind of efforts.” water in the Rio Grande, solutions to the Only in the past half century has the barriers to fish passage posed by dams, minnow’s floating egg become its and a general restoration of riverine Achilles’ heel. The species’ steady habitat, especially upstream of San decline coincided with flood-control and Acacia Dam, to recreate historic condi­ river channelization projects that began tions such as slow-moving, shallow in the 1940s and eventually converted water with a shifting, sandy bottom. With much of the Rio Grande from a wide, these improvements, the outlook for shallow, meandering river to a much future generations of silvery minnows narrower and deeper one fragmented by like those hatched from the recently dams. The minnow’s range likely ebbed rescued eggs will become more hopeful. as insulated oxbows and shallow pools Although these endeavors may seem gradually disappeared. like a large price to pay for a tiny Today, as fertilized minnow eggs drift minnow, Smith says that “by trying to downstream, adult minnows cannot save the minnow, we are really working move upstream past the three diversion to save the river. The minnow is an dams. Consequently, an estimated 90 to indicator species that suggests the 95 percent of the minnow’s population is overall health, or sickness, of the entire believed to be in the 60-mile (96-km) river ecosystem.” If parts of the river dry portion of the river downstream of the up today, then not only does the San Acacia Dam. To make matters worse, minnow suffer, habitat is displaced for a this reach of the river is the one now number of species, from other fishes, to most likely to run dry in any given year birds, beavers, and muskrats. because of diversions for crop irrigation There is a saying in the Southwest: and other factors. For both minnow and agua es vida, water is life. If a formerly biologist, the sum of these conditions abundant native species is barely can be daunting. hanging on in the Rio Grande, New Soon after the minnow was listed as Mexico’s artery of life, there are obvious endangered in 1994, biologists began implications for the quality of life for all collecting and relocating minnows creatures, including people. Our goal is upstream as well as conducting minnow to improve conditions for not only the rescue operations when the San Acacia Rio Grande silvery minnow but all of us. reach went dry. In the past, these efforts have been no more than desperate Ben Ikenson, a Writer/Editor in the measures to stave off extinction. The Service’s Albuquerque Regional Office, idea of ferrying minnows from lower can be reached at 505/248-6457 or by reaches of the river to higher reaches on email at [email protected]. a regular, ongoing basis is under debate. The balancing act will continue, but the eventual goal, of course, is to remove human hands from the picture so that the species can sustain itself. “The recent collection of minnow eggs is a landmark accomplishment for the project,” said Service biologist Jude Smith, “but it fulfills only one aspect of recovery, which is to maintain the population of the species. In the end, these efforts will only be meaningful if

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 35 Black-footed Ferrets by Dario Bard Return to Mexico

Photos by Dario Bard/USFWS This past October 2, on a moonlit night outside the town of Janos in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, a captive-bred black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) peered out of his cage, reluctant to venture into the vast Chihuahuan Desert. For two days, he had been cooped up in the back of a government van with 33 others of his species. They traveled the highways from Laramie, Wyoming, to Janos, with an overnight respite at the El Paso Zoo, finally arriving at a secluded ranch off a dirt road. By chance, he was chosen as the first of the group to be released. His cage door was opened and, as a group of U.S. and Mexican biologists anxiously waited for him to emerge, he shrank back into his artificial prairie dog burrow—a synthetic rubber tube—while the real thing lay before him less than a foot away.

36 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 It was almost as though he knew Biologists are optimistic about the arrived in Janos in the dark of night, what the biologists knew: that he was Janos location, a grassland area of the having spent the greater part of the day about to become one of the first black- Chihuahuan Desert. The release site navigating the documentation and footed ferrets to return to a country that contains the largest remaining prairie permitting process required to bring the hadn’t seen a member of his species for dog complex in North America, with an 34 ferrets across the U.S./Mexico border. as long as anyone could remember. estimated 500,000 healthy prairie dogs. A At the release site, they were joined by The black-footed ferret, North diverse assemblage of species coexists at participants at a grasslands conservation America’s only native ferret, suffered the site, including the pronghorn conference, who were on hand to tremendous population declines as a (Antilocapra americana), burrowing owl witness the historic moment. Everyone result of rural development and disease, (Athene cunnicularia), ferruginous waited patiently for the first ferret to take two factors that also adversely impacted hawk (Buteo regalis), badger (Taxidea his first steps on Mexican soil. When it prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), which are taxus), kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), and a became clear he was not about to vital to the ferret’s survival. Black-footed bird the Service has proposed for listing overcome his fears any time soon, ferrets prey almost exclusively on prairie as a threatened species, the mountain Marinari reached into the cage, lifted the dogs and den in prairie dog burrows. plover (Charadrius montanus). tube with the ferret still inside, and laid With the death of a captive ferret in “We hope they do well enough in it down in front of the prairie dog 1979, the species was thought to be Mexico so that one day we can bring a burrow. Almost instantly, the ferret extinct. Just two years later, however, a few back to the U.S. to help us with re- regained his species’ renowned curiosity. rancher found a lone ferret near establishment efforts here,” says Mike He looked around, wandered across the Meeteetse, Wyoming, which led to the Lockhart, the Service’s black-footed ferret feet of one of the gathered biologists, discovery of a small colony. Soon after, recovery coordinator. “The idea is to and, after seeming to contemplate a even this last remaining population fell breed more and to spread them out.” return to his cage, turned his back on his victim to disease. In all, Service biologists made the trip life in captivity and slipped down the In a last-ditch effort to save the to Janos four times this past fall, releas- prairie dog burrow. He had found his species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife ing a total of 91 ferrets. The October 2 freedom and a new home in Mexico. Service, together with the Wyoming release marked the first significant Game and Fish Department, captured 18 release of ferrets into Mexico, preceded Dario Bard is a Public Affairs Special- disease-free individuals and initiated a only by a release of four ferrets a few ist in the Service’s Washington, D.C. captive breeding program. In 1996, the weeks earlier as a test run conducted by office. He can be reached at 202-219- Service rallied interested parties and Lockhart and Mexican biologists. 7499 or [email protected]. A video clip established the Black-footed Ferret Dr. Gerardo Ceballos, a professor with of the release of the first black-footed Recovery Implementation Team, a 27- the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de ferret on October 2 is available on the member multi-agency partnership that Mexico (UNAM), one of the Service’s Service’s website at includes representatives from federal and Mexican partners in this endeavor, and http://video.fws.gov. state governments, Native American the leader of the effort in Janos, believes tribes, zoos from the U.S. and Canada, the ferrets will fare well and, as a result, and non-profit organizations throughout will help him and his colleagues protect North America. Through this tremendous the grasslands of the region. collaborative effort, the captive breeding “Having a high-profile endangered program has been remarkably successful. species like the black-footed ferret will Today, approximately 700 black-footed help us establish a biological reserve in ferrets live in captive breeding facilities the area,” says Dr. Ceballos. He would and in wild populations reintroduced like to see the grasslands in the region into Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, conserved, as would many of the local Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Although residents, including the owner of the ranch roughly half have been reintroduced into where the ferrets are being released. “If the wild, reestablishing self-sustaining we don’t protect this area from the wild black-footed ferret populations has desertification process, the land won’t be not been easy. One of the factors making any good for wildlife, for ranching, for the species’ return into the wild difficult farming, for anything. It is important to is the scarcity of sufficiently large, keep the grassland ecology healthy.” disease-free prairie dog populations. On October 2, Lockhart, Ceballos, and Service wildlife biologist Paul Marinari USFWS photo by LuRay Parker

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 37 REGIONAL NEWS & RECOVERY UPDATES

fir; the rest is Camas prairie. The land is routinely Region Two used by elk, many small mammals, and birds. Geese use the open grass areas during spring migration. Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (Hybognathus amarus) The Rio Grande silvery minnow has been the focus of intensive interagency negotia­ tions and recovery planning lately, as a newly developed multi-stakeholder program compris­ ing public and private entities collaborates with the Service in its recovery activities for the criti­ cally endangered fish. Once an abundant species found throughout the Rio Grande basin and its Regional endangered species staffers have tributaries, the silvery minnow has suffered from reported the following news: habitat loss and alteration due to water diversion for agricultural irrigation. The silvery minnow is Region 1 currently found only in the middle Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to the headwaters of the El­ Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge The ephant Butte Dam in New Mexico, a stretch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received ap­ Rio Grande that represents approximately five proval to expand the Conboy Lake National Wild- percent of the minnow’s historic habitat. (See life Refuge (NWR) in southern Washington state related article in this edition of the Bulletin.) by 40 acres (16 hectares) to encompass the Gamble Tract. Addition of the Gamble Tract will protect The multi-stakeholder team will focus on several habitat for sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis), California condor recovery issues related to habitat loss and alter­ which are considered by the state of Washington USFWS photo ation, including identification and implementa­ as endangered, and Oregon spotted frogs (Rana tion of channel restoration activities, water qual­ pretiosa), a species also considered endangered California Condor (Gymnogyps califor­ ity improvements, and long-term water manage­ in Washington and a candidate for federal listing, nianus) The Hopper Mountain NWR and ad­ ment strategies. Additionally, captive propaga­ as well as migratory birds and other wildlife. jacent Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres tion and reintroduction programs for the silvery National Forest of eastern Ventura County in minnow will be continued and augmented at Ser­ southern California continues to be the area of vice, state, and local facilities. focus for reintroduced California condors. Biolo­ gists are continuing a supplemental feeding pro- Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae) The Gila gram on the refuge and monitoring condor ac­ trout, a fish native to the rivers of the southwest- tivities closely. ern United States, is being considered for reclas­ sification from endangered to the less critical Due to continuing problems of low flying aircraft category of threatened. When the trout was ini­ over Hopper Mountain NWR and the Sespe Condor tially listed in 1966, it existed in only five small Sandhill crane Sanctuary, notices for pilots were posted at Ox- populations. Recovery work over the past three USFWS photo nard, Camarillo, and Santa Paula airports. The decades has included captive propagation from notices reminded pilots to maintain a 3,000-foot these relict populations and reintroduction of The Gamble Tract is adjacent to two active san­ (915-meter) terrain clearance when flying over fish into historic stream habitat in New Mexico dhill crane nesting territories and one of the larg­ or near the Sespe and Sisquoc condor sanctuaries. and Arizona. Less than 10,000 in 1992, the popu­ est Oregon spotted frog breeding sites on the ref­ Information regarding this requirement will also lation in 1998 was estimated at 37,000 and is uge. It contains historic wetlands that could be be published in the Ventura County’s Department considered stable. restored to provide important habitat for sandhill of Airports newsletter. crane nesting and foraging as well as Oregon To ensure the success of reintroduced Gila trout, spotted frog breeding habitat. Reported by LaRee Brosseau of the Service’s recovery work has focused on the causes of the Portland Regional Office. original decline: habitat fragmentation and al­ Approximately one-third of the tract is timbered teration (including streamside vegetation loss and with ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and Douglas erosion, sedimentation, and lowered water tables)

38 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 REGIONAL NEWS & RECOVERY UPDATES

Region 5 West Virginia Division of Forestry. Both grants were issued from the Cooperative Endangered West Virginia Species The Service’s West Vir­ Species Conservation Fund authorized under sec­ ginia Field Office has updated the 1990 recovery tion 6 of the Endangered Species Act. plan covering the two endangered Appalachian subspecies of northern flying squirrels. The up- Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) The dated plan amends the guidelines for habitat iden­ Ducktrap Coalition, a private conservation group tification and management for the endangered dedicated to the protection of riparian habitat Gila trout Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys along the Ducktrap River in Maine, has announced USFWS photo sabrinus fuscus) in West Virginia. The amend­ that 80 percent of the streamside habitat is now ment was a collaborative effort between the Ser­ protected either through fee title or conservation and competition and interbreeding with non-na­ vice, Monongahela National Forest, George Wash­ easement. The Ducktrap is one of the rivers that tive trout. Planning is underway with the New ington/Jefferson National Forest, West Virginia support the listed Gulf of Maine Distinct Popula­ Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the Division of Natural Resources, and Appalachian tion Segment of Atlantic salmon. Similar efforts U.S. Forest Service for a large-scale habitat resto­ Northern Flying Squirrels Recovery Team. are underway to protect other rivers in the area that ration project on the West Fork Gila River. Comple­ harbor the listed salmon. The Service recently tion of the project will double the number of The new guidelines will provide better manage­ announced a Recovery Land Acquisition Grant to stream kilometers available for occupation by ment for the northern flying squirrel in West Maine under section 6 of the ESA to obtain an Gila trout. Virginia and expedite its recovery. Promulgation easement from the International Paper company of the amended guidelines into the management for protecting much of the habitat adjacent to the A revised recovery plan, which outlines recent plans of the Monongahela National Forest, which Machias river, another DPS component. conservation efforts, reports new biological data, supports almost all of the squirrel’s populations, refines reclassification criteria, and proposes will in all likelihood result in reclassification of Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) delisting criteria, should be available for public the northern flying squirrel to a threatened and Since the peregrine’s recovery and removal from review soon. possibly a delisted species. the endangered and threatened species list in 1999, monitoring indicates it is continuing to do well in Texas Plants The Service has been working West Virginia has been awarded two grants total­ New York and New England. Preliminary reports with the Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) ing approximately $250,000 to determine baseline in June for the 2001 season from Vermont showed and the Texas Nature Conservancy to establish population levels and habitat conditions in the a total of 26 pairs, the best year yet for that state. populations of several federally listed and candi­ state for the Virginia northern flying squirrel, New Hampshire also reported a record 12 sites date species within the recently established Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi), with falcon pairs present, all with incubating Pineywoods Native Plant Center at SFASU. As an and flat-spired three-toothed land snail birds confirmed by June 2001. In Boston, two anticipated accredited partner of the Center for (Triodopsis platysayoides). The information will resident pairs of peregrine falcons produced four Plant Conservation, the Pineywoods Center will be used to assist in development of a Habitat chicks each, and two additional pairs, one with house seeds and populations of two listed species Conservation Plan (HCP) with the Intrawest Cor­ three chicks and one with two chicks, were re- (Texas trailing phlox, Phlox nivalis ssp. texensis, poration at Snowshoe Ski Resort and develop­ ported at other sites in Massachusetts. For New and the white bladderpod, Lesquerella texensis), ment of a Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) with the York, 2001 was another record year, with 45 breed­ two listing candidates (Texas golden gladecress, ing pairs producing 96 young. Leavenworthia texana, and Neches River rose- mallow, Hibiscus dasycalyx), and a number of Reported by Shane Jones in the Service’s West additional plant species of concern. These popu­ Virginia Field Office. lations will be used for research purposes and for reintroduction efforts within suitable habitat in East Texas.

Reported by Tracy A. Scheffler and Jim Brooks, of the Service’s Albuquerque Regional Office and Kathy Nemec of our Clear Lake, Texas, Field Office. Cheat Mountain salamander Photo by C.K. Dodd, Jr.

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 239 LISTING ACTIONS

From September through November 2001, In the spring of 2001, the Washington Depart­ Scientists believe the Carson wandering skipper the Fish and Wildlife Service published the ment of Fish and Wildlife began a captive breed­ was once more widely distributed at sites between following proposed and final Endangered ing program for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit the remaining populations before habitat degra­ Species Act (ESA) rules in the Federal Reg­ to provide animals for release into the wild to dation and fragmentation damaged other salt ister. The full text of each action can be augment the natural population. As of early De­ grass habitats. accessed through our website: cember, 12 pygmy rabbits had been captured from http://endangered.fws.gov. the Columbia Basin population as an initial source Proposed Listing Rules for captive breeding efforts. Biologists have ob­ Emergency Listing Rules served reproductive behavior in these animals, Rota Bridled White-eye (Zosterops rotensis) including the birth of five offspring that were We proposed on October 3 to list the Rota bridled Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit (Brachy­ conceived in the wild. Washington already has white-eye, a small forest bird with a distinctive lagus idahoensis) On November 30, we gave listed the pygmy rabbit as endangered under state ring of white feathers around its eyes, as an en­ protection to the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit law and has undertaken various management dangered species. It is a small (approximately 4 under the emergency rule provisions of the ESA. efforts to protect the Columbia Basin population. inches or 10 centimeters) yellowish bird with a This population of the pygmy rabbit, the smallest Currently, the species only occurs on state land. yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. Found in the species of rabbit in North America, consists of Mariana archipelago of the western Pacific Ocean, fewer than 50 individuals in Douglas County, this bird exists only on the island of Rota. Washington. Population estimates for the Rota bridled white- The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is threatened eye have declined dramatically since the early with imminent extinction because of recent sig­ 1980s, when it numbered almost 11,000 birds. nificant population declines, continuing distur­ Today, fewer than 1,200 birds probably remain on bances to its sagebrush habitat, disease, preda­ Rota, an 89 percent decline. Once numerous and tion, and loss of genetic diversity. An emergency found at low elevations on the island, current listing under the ESA provides immediate federal Carson wandering skipper populations are concentrated in four areas of the protection for 240 days while we publish a pro- USFWS photo island in old-growth native limestone forests more posed rule under normal procedures to give the Carson Wandering Skipper (Pseudo­ than 650 feet (200 meters) in elevation. In 1991, population long-term protection as an endan­ copaeodes eunus obscurus) On Novem­ the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is- gered species. The listing proposal was also pub­ ber 29, we also gave emergency protection to the lands government listed the Rota bridled white- lished on November 30. Carson wandering skipper, a small, tawny-orange eye as threatened or endangered under local law. butterfly found in only two counties in northwest- The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is a distinct ern Nevada and northeastern California. The same The exact causes for the sharp decline in Rota population of native rabbit that once occupied day, we published a proposal to give the butterfly bridled white-eye populations are unknown. Pos­ Douglas, Grant, Lincoln, Adams, and Benton coun­ long-term protection as an endangered species. sible factors contributing toward the decline in­ ties in central Washington. Pygmy rabbits occur in clude degradation or loss of habitat due to devel­ other areas of the West, but the Columbia Basin The two Carson wandering skipper populations— opment, agricultural activities, and naturally population is genetically unique, having lived in one in Washoe County, Nevada, and one in Lassen occurring events such as typhoons; avian disease; isolation from other rabbit populations for thou- County, California—face imminent extinction predation by nonnative rats (Rattus spp.) and the sands of years. from water export projects, grazing, development black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus), an intro­ activities, and invasions of nonnative plants. A duced bird species from Taiwan; and pesticides. population once found in Carson City, Nevada, has already been lost. Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot But­ terfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti) Adult skippers feed on flower nectar and females The high mountain meadows of native flowering lay their eggs exclusively on salt grass. The habi­ plants outside the Village of Cloudcroft in south- tat of both remaining skipper populations is ern New Mexico are the only place to find Sacra­ threatened by pending water export proposals that mento Mountains checkerspot butterflies in the would likely lower the ground water and contrib­ wild. Their limited range and threats to the re­ ute to the loss of salt grass, the skipper’s larval maining butterflies led to our September 6 pro­ Pygmy rabbit Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife food source. posal to list the Sacramento Mountains

40 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 LISTING ACTIONS checkerspot as endangered. The proposal also Final Listing Rules called for designating 5,000 acres (2,025 hect­ ares) in Otero County as critical habitat for the Vermilion Darter (Etheostoma chermocki) butterfly. Half of the proposed critical habitat is This small fish, named for its reddish-orange public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service; coloration, is found only in the Turkey Creek the rest is privately owned. drainage, a tributary of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River, in Jefferson County, Alabama. The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly The vermilion darter’s current known range is has a wingspan of approximately 2 inches (5 cm). limited to 7.2 miles (11.6 kilometers) of the Tur­ It inhabits mountain meadows and other openings key Creek mainstem and the lower 0.5 mile (0.8 within the mixed-conifer forest between an eleva­ km) of Dry and Beaver creeks where they intersect tion of 8,000 to 9,000 feet (2,450 to 2,750 m). Turkey Creek. Extensive surveys in similar habi­ Scaleshell tats have failed to locate this species outside its USFWS photo Extensive surveys for larvae and the adult butter- current drainage. 13 states, but now is limited to 14 rivers in Arkan­ flies throughout the Sacramento Mountains led sas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. us to conclude that this butterfly is found only Impoundments in the upper Turkey Creek within a 33-square-mile (85.5-square-kilometer) mainstem and its tributaries, along with water Threats to the scaleshell, as with many other area. Within this small area, the butterfly’s distri­ quality degradation, have altered the stream’s mussel species, include poor water quality due to bution is patchy and unconnected. Currently, the dynamics and reduced the darter’s range signifi­ pollution and sedimentation; loss and alteration best information available shows that many areas cantly. The surviving population is threatened by of habitat through damming of waterways, dredg­ of suitable habitat may be small, supporting few pollutants (i.e., sediment, excess nutrients, pesti­ ing and channelization of rivers, and sand and numbers of butterflies. Isolated populations are cide and fertilizer runoff) that wash into the gravel mining; and competition with nonnative more vulnerable and less likely to survive over the streams from land surfaces. Because the vermil­ species like the zebra mussel. long term. ion darter is in danger of extinction, we listed this species as endangered on November 28. Ohlone Tiger Beetle (Cicindela ohlone) Much of the remaining habitat is threatened by The Ohlone tiger beetle, an insect that exists only the direct and indirect effects of residential devel­ Spalding’s Catchfly (Silene spaldingii) A in Santa Cruz County, California, received final opment, certain development projects in the Lin­ member of the carnation family (Caryophyl­ protection as an endangered species on October 3. coln National Forest, highway reconstruction, off- laceae), Spalding’s catchfly is a long-lived peren­ It currently exists only in remnant stands of na­ highway vehicle use, trampling, and overgrazing. nial herb with small greenish-white flowers. It is tive grassland on coastal terraces in four small Conifers and other nonnative vegetation are en­ currently known from a total of 52 populations croaching on the meadows due to the suppression scattered over west-cental Idaho, northeastern of periodic wildfires, impeding the survival of the Oregon, western Montana, eastern Washington, native plants used by the butterfly. The resulting and a single site in British Columbia, Canada. growth has also increased fuel loads, contribut­ This plant is threatened by a variety of factors, ing to the threat of more catastrophic, high-in- including habitat destruction and fragmentation tensity wildfires. from agricultural and urban development, graz­ ing and trampling by domestic livestock and na­ We are also concerned about continued illegal tive herbivores, herbicide treatments, and compe­ netting from unscrupulous butterfly collectors, tition from invasive nonnative plant species. On Ohlone tiger beetle by whom specimens of rare butterflies are highly October 10, we listed Spalding’s catchfly as a Photo by Michael Rigsby and David Kavanaugh prized. To help protect the Sacramento Moun­ threatened species. tains checkerspot butterfly, the Forest Service geographic areas near or within the cities of Santa banned collecting the butterfly without a permit Scaleshell Mussel (Leptodea leptodon) A Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Soquel. The beetles in- in portions of the Lincoln National Forest in 1999. freshwater mollusk once found in many rivers of habit fewer than 20 acres (8 ha) on a combina­ Collection of illegally captured butterfly species the eastern U.S., the scaleshell mussel has de­ tion of private lands and lands owned by the has led to several arrests and convictions for vio­ clined to the point that we listed it on October 9 as University of California at Santa Cruz, the city of lation of federal wildlife laws. an endangered species. Nearly 75 percent of his­ Santa Cruz, and the California state parks system. torically known populations have disappeared. The tiger beetle inhabits some of the last remain­ The species once inhabited 55 rivers or streams in ing patches of a coastal prairie ecosystem that once

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 41 LISTING ACTIONS spanned coastal Santa Cruz County and extended the Lompoc yerba santa (Eriodictyon capitatum), into San Mateo County and Monterey counties. and 14,020 acres (5,675 ha) for the Gaviota tarplant (Deinandra increscens ssp. villosa). The The primary threat to the Ohlone tiger beetle is plants are found only in coastal areas of San Luis habitat destruction and fragmentation caused by Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. urban development. Other threats include habitat changes caused by invasive nonnative plants, over- The La Graciosa thistle, a member of the sun- collection, impacts from recreational activities, flower family (Asteraceae), forms a mound of pesticides, and vulnerability to extinction from natu­ spiny plants with white flowers. Each plant can ral events such as disease, fire, drought, or flood. reach 40 inches (100 centimeters) or more in Shivwits milk-vetch height. The thistle occurs in coastal dune habitat Ohlone tiger beetles measure no more than one- USFWS photo and wetlands in areas of northern Santa Barbara half inch (1.2 cm) long. They have large, promi­ ious weeds, overgrazing, and mineral develop­ County and southern San Luis Obispo County, nent eyes, and metallic green leathery forewings ment also threaten the plants’ survival. including the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National with small light spots and coppery-green legs. Wildlife Refuge. Active by day, adults are swift and ferocious preda­ Proposed Critical Habitat Rules tors that seize small prey with powerful sickle- The Lompoc yerba santa, a shrub in the waterleaf shaped jaws. Even their larvae are predatory. Ti­ Critical Habitat Critical habitat, as defined family (Hydrophyllaceae), produces lavender ger beetle larvae live in small vertical or slanting in the ESA, is a term for a geographic area that is flowers on sticky stems that can reach heights of burrows from which they lunge and seize passing essential for the conservation of a listed species. 10 feet (3 meters). It grows in maritime chaparral invertebrates. Critical habitat designations do not a establish a and southern bishop pine forests in western Santa wildlife refuge, wilderness area, or any other type Barbara County. Three populations occur on Two Southwestern Plants The Holmgren of conservation reserve, nor do they affect actions Vandenberg Air Force Base, and one is on private milk-vetch (Astragalus holmgreniorum) and the of a purely private nature. They are intended to land near the city of Orcutt. Shivwits milk-vetch (Astragalus ampullariodes), delineate areas in which federal agencies must a pair of rare plants found only near the Utah/ consult with the Service to ensure that actions The Gaviota tarplant, a gray-green annual in the Arizona border, were listed September 28 as en­ these agencies authorize, fund, or carry out do sunflower family, has yellow flowers and can grow dangered. Both are perennials in the pea family not adversely modify the designated critical habi­ to a height of 35 inches (89 cm). It occurs in rare (Fabaceae). tat. Within designated critical habitat boundaries, needlegrass grasslands between Point Arguello federal agencies are required to consult except in and Gaviota on coastal terraces and along Only small numbers of these species remain. The areas that are specifically excluded, such as de­ ridgeline saddles in the Santa Ynez Mountains. One Holmgren milk-vetch population varies from veloped areas within the boundaries that no longer population occurs on Vandenberg Air Force Base. 5,000 to 10,000 plants, depending upon rainfall, contain suitable habitat. Maps and more specific and is native to Washington County, Utah, and information on critical habitats are contained in Santa Cruz tarplant (Holocarpha adjacent Mojave County, Arizona, near the city of the specific Federal Register notice designating macradenia) Also on November 15, we pro- St. George, Utah. The Shivwits milk-vetch, num­ each area. For more information on critical habi­ posed designating critical habitat for the threat­ bering fewer than 1,000 plants, grows only in tat designations in general, go to the website for ened Santa Cruz tarplant on about 3,360 acres southern Washington County. our Endangered Species Listing Program (http:// (1,360 ha) in California’s Contra Costa, Santa endangered.fws.gov/listing/) and click Cruz, and Monterey counties. Both species grow on state and private land, as on “About Critical Habitat.” well as land administered by the Bureau of Land The Santa Cruz tarplant is an aromatic annual Management. The Shivwits milk-vetch is also Three Central California Plants We proposed herb native to California’s central coast. A mem­ found on the Shivwits Reservation of the Paiute on November 15 to designate critical habitat for ber of the aster family, the Santa Cruz tarplant Tribe. The numbers of both plants are rapidly three native California plant species on about can reach a height of 20 inches (50 cm) and decreasing due primarily to rapid urban expan­ 66,830 acres (27,050 ha) in San Luis Obispo and displays heads of yellow daisy-like flowers in sum­ sion and population growth in the St. George Santa Barbara counties. mer, long after most other annual plants have area, where much of the plants’ habitat has been begun to fade. It typically grows on coastal ter­ destroyed or degraded by the construction of new About 44,315 acres (17,935 ha) of critical habitat race prairies where sandy clay soils hold moisture roads, power lines, and other development. Off- are being proposed for the La Graciosa thistle well into the growing season. road recreational vehicle use, the spread of nox- (Cirsium loncholepis), 8,495 acres (3,440 ha) for

42 ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 LISTING ACTIONS

Once found along the central coast from Marin outcrops in the grasslands of Kneeland Prairie in critical habitat designation to affect our flow County south to Monterey County, the Santa Cruz Humboldt County, California. management recommendations. tarplant now occurs on public, county, state, and private lands in Monterey and Santa Cruz coun­ A perennial herb in the mustard family Recreational fisheries on the river and the activi­ ties. Populations of the plant grown from experi­ (Brassicaceae), the Kneeland Prairie penny-cress ties of the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, including the mental seeding also occur at Wildcat Canyon Re­ produces white flowers and can grow to 5 inches Tribe’s aquaculture program, in which juvenile gional Park in Contra Costa County in the San (12.5 cm) tall. Approximately 5,300 plants are Kootenai River white sturgeon are raised for re- Francisco Bay area. The loss or alteration of habi­ distributed in five colonies in one general loca­ lease into the wild as part of the species’ recovery tat, livestock grazing, and displacement by non- tion. The colonies are bisected by the Kneeland program, also should not be affected by the criti­ native annual grasses led to the plant’s decline Airport and a county road. The population is cal habitat designation. and listing as a threatened species. threatened with habitat loss due to construction, maintenance and development activities, hydro- Wenatchee Mountains Checker-mallow Purple Amole (Chlorogalum purpureum) logic changes, and other activities that could fur­ (Sidalcea oregana ssp. calva) Also on Sep­ We proposed on November 8 to designate critical ther disturb the habitat. tember 6, we designated 6,135 acres (2,485 ha) of habitat for two varieties of the purple amole, a seasonal wetlands on state, federal, and private threatened bulb-forming perennial in the lily fam­ Final Critical Habitat Rules lands in central Washington as critical habitat for ily (Liliaceae), on about 21,980 acres (8,895 ha) an endangered plant, the Wenatchee Mountains in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, Cali­ checker-mallow. fornia. About 17,210 acres (6,965 ha) of critical habitat are being proposed for the purple amole Most of the approximately 3,600 checker-mallow variety (Chlorogalum purpureum var. plants are found on about 95 acres (38 ha) of purpureum) and 4,770 acres (1,930 ha) for the seasonal wetlands on the Washington Department Camatta Canyon amole variety (Chlorogalum of Natural Resources’ Camas Meadows Natural purpureum var. reductum). Both varieties have Area Preserve in Chelan County. Other checker- bluish-purple flowers along the length of the stalk Kootenai River white sturgeon mallow plants are scattered on adjacent Forest that bloom during the day. Kootenai Tribe of Idaho photo Service land and on a small parcel of private property in Pendleton Canyon. Loss or alteration of habitat, livestock grazing, Kootenai River White Sturgeon (Acipenser and displacement by nonnative annual grasses transmontanus) A final designation of criti­ contributed to the decline of both varieties. cal habitat was published on September 6 for 11.2 miles (18 km) of the Kootenai River in northern Kneeland Prairie Penny-cress (Thlaspi Idaho to benefit the endangered Kootenai River californicum) On October 24, we proposed white sturgeon. to designate critical habitat for the Kneeland Prai­ rie penny-cress, an endangered native California The area is entirely within Boundary County and plant, on about 74 acres (30 ha) of serpentine begins 31 miles (50 km) downstream from Libby Dam at Bonner’s Ferry, extending downstream to river mile 141.4, below Shorty’s Island. It con­ tains the only known spawning and early-life stage rearing sites for the species.

In December 2000, we called for limits on rapid water level fluctuations in the Kootenai River caused by operating Libby Dam to meet peak electricity demands. Reducing these large fluc­ tuations is expected to benefit endangered stur­

geon by ending the cycle of flooding and dewater­ Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow ing of their spawning grounds. Levee owners in Photo by Ted Thomas/USFWS Kneeland Prairie penny-cress the Kootenai Valley should also benefit because USFWS photo levee erosion will be reduced. We do not expect the

ENDANGERED SPECIES BULLETIN MARCH/JUNE 2002 VOLUME XXVII NO. 2 43 BOX SCORE Listings and Recovery Plans as of May 31, 2002 ENDANGERED THREATENED TOTAL U.S. SPECIES GROUP U.S. FOREIGN U.S. FOREIGN LISTINGS W/ PLANS MAMMALS 65 251 9 17 342 53

BIRDS 78 175 14 6 273 75

REPTILES 14 64 22 15 115 32

AMPHIBIANS 11 8 8 1 28 12

FISHES 71 11 44 0 126 95

SNAILS 21 1 11 0 33 27

CLAMS 62 2 8 0 72 56

CRUSTACEANS 18 0 3 0 21 12

INSECTS 35 4 9 0 48 29

ARACHNIDS 12 0 0 0 12 5

ANIMAL SUBTOTAL 387 516 128 39 1,070 396

FLOWERING PLANTS 568 1 144 0 713 555

CONIFERS 2 0 1 2 5 2

FERNS AND OTHERS 26 0 2 0 28 28

PLANT SUBTOTAL 596 1 147 2 746 585

GRAND TOTAL 983 517 275 41 1,816* 981

TOTAL U.S. ENDANGERED: 983 (387 animals, 596 plants) tern, green sea turtle, saltwater crocodile, and olive ridley sea turtle. TOTAL U.S. THREATENED: 275 (128 animals, 147 plants) For the purposes of the Endangered Species Act, the term “species” TOTAL U.S. LISTED: 1,258 (515 animals***, 743 plants) can mean a species, subspecies, or distinct vertebrate population. Several entries also represent entire genera or even families. * Separate populations of a species listed both as Endangered and Threatened ** Nine animal species have dual status in the U.S. are tallied once, for the endangered population only. Those species are the argali, chimpanzee, leopard, Stellar sea lion, gray wolf, piping plover, roseate

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