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Anaxyrus Boreas Boreas) As Endangered Or Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act

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Anaxyrus Boreas Boreas) As Endangered Or Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR PETITION TO LIST A DISTINCT POPULATION SEGMENT OF THE BOREAL TOAD (ANAXYRUS BOREAS BOREAS) AS ENDANGERED OR THREATENED UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT Photo by J. N. Stuart CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY CENTER FOR NATIVE ECOSYSTEMS and BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ALLIANCE May 25, 2011 1 Notice of Petition _____________________________________________________________________________ Ken Salazar, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 Rowan Gould, Acting Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 Steve Guertin, Regional Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mountain-Prairie Region 134 Union Blvd. Lakewood, CO 80228 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Western Colorado Ecological Services Field Office 764 Horizon Drive, Building B Grand Junction, CO 81506-3946 PETITIONERS David Noah Greenwald Endangered Species Program Director Center for Biological Diversity PO Box 11374 Portland, OR 97211 [email protected] Collette L. Adkins Giese Herpetofauna Staff Attorney Center for Biological Diversity 8640 Coral Sea Street NE Minneapolis, MN 55449-5600 [email protected] Megan Mueller Senior Staff Biologist Center for Native Ecosystems 1536 Wynkoop Street, Suite 303 Denver, CO 80202 [email protected] 2 Erik Molvar Executive Director Biodiversity Conservation Alliance P.O. Box 1512 Laramie, WY 82073 Biodiversity Conservation Alliance [email protected] Submitted this 25th day of May, 2011 Pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §1533(b); Section 553(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553(e); and 50 C.F.R. §424.14(a), the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Native Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance hereby petition the Secretary of the Interior, through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”), to list a distinct population segment of the boreal toad (Anaxyrus boreas boreas) as threatened or endangered and to designate critical habitat to ensure recovery. Specifically, a population of genetically unique boreal toads in the Southern Rocky Mountains, Utah, northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho, hereby referred to as the “Eastern population,” should be listed (see Section XI, Map 1 for proposed boundaries of this distinct population segment). In the alternative, the petition seeks to list boreal toads in the Southern Rocky Mountain as endangered or threatened (see Section XI, Map 3 for proposed boundaries of this distinct population segment). Should boreal toads in the Eastern population or in the Southern Rocky Mountains population be described as separate species while this petition is being considered, we hereby petition for those species. The Center for Biological Diversity (“CBD”) is a non-profit, public interest environmental organization dedicated to the protection of native species and their habitats through science, policy, and environmental law. CBD is supported by over 320,000 members and on-line activists throughout the United States. CBD and its members are concerned with the conservation of imperiled species, including the boreal toad, and the effective implementation of the ESA. The Center for Native Ecosystems (“CNE”) is a non-profit, public interest organization dedicated to conserving and recovering native species and ecosystems in the Greater Southern Rockies region. CNE represents more than 500 members in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. We use the best available science to forward our mission through participation in policy, public outreach and organizing, administrative processes, legal action, and education. CNE staff and members have a long-standing interest in the conservation of the boreal toad and its habitat in the region at issue in this petition. We have participated on the boreal toad recovery team, worked to influence the management of boreal toad habitat on public lands, and engaged in a variety of other activities aimed at advancing boreal toad conservation. Biodiversity Conservation Alliance (“BCA”) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places in Wyoming and surrounding states, primarily on public lands. 3 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY During the last several decades, dramatic declines and disappearances of amphibian populations have been observed and documented worldwide. One species that has experienced such declines is the boreal toad (Anaxyrus boreas boreas). Although once considered a common garden toad in the western U.S., the boreal toad is rare across its range and is entirely absent from numerous areas where it occurred historically. The boreal toad in the southern Rocky Mountains and surrounding areas warrants listing as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Boreal toads are present in less than one percent of historic breeding areas in the southern Rockies. Only a handful of large populations remain and most remaining populations are threatened by the deadly chytrid fungus, habitat destruction, and inadequate regulatory mechanisms. The boreal toad – more specifically, the Eastern population and the Southern Rocky Mountains population – meet at least three of the factors for determining whether a species is endangered or threatened in all or a significant portion of its range: The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the boreal toad’s habitat or range The boreal toad is severely threatened by activities that destroy, modify, or curtail its habitat. These activities include timber management, livestock grazing, pesticide application, water management, recreation, residential and commercial development, and road building. As just one example, livestock activity in and around a breeding pond on the Targhee National Forest caused the death of hundreds of boreal toads from trampling and the disturbance of microhabitats (Bartelt 1998, 2000). Disease Chytridmycosis has devastated boreal toad populations in the southern Rocky Mountains and has now been detected in Utah (National Wildlife Health Center 2001; Thomas et al. 2004). This disease is caused by chytrid fungus, a microscopic, parasitic fungus that attacks the keratin and skin of amphibians and has caused 90-100 percent mortality rates in metamorphosed amphibians (McGee & Keinath 2004, p. 44). Populations of boreal toads infected with chytrid fungus have declined to near extinction within one year, and there are no documented cases of an infected population recovering following infection. Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms Existing regulatory mechanisms are inadequate to protect the boreal toad. Boreal toads are listed as state endangered species in Colorado and New Mexico but these designations lack necessary protection for boreal toad habitat. Voluntary conservation agreements for the boreal seek to guide management actions in the southern Rocky Mountains and Utah but no discernable impact on population trends in the region can be attributed to these actions. 4 In combination, these factors demonstrate that a distinct population segment of the boreal toad warrants listing as a threatened or endangered species under the ESA. A prompt decision on ESA listing is required to ensure that this population is not beyond recovery before listing takes place. Specifically, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should recognize an Eastern population of boreal toads from the Southern Rocky Mountains, Utah, northeastern Nevada, and southern Idaho. This population includes members of the evolutionarily significant “Eastern clade” identified by Goebel et al. (2009) and subsequently confirmed by Switzer et al. (2009). In the alternative, CBD, CNE, and BCA petition to list a distinct population segment of boreal toads in the Southern Rocky Mountains. 5 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 7 II. NATURAL HISTORY AND BIOLOGY OF THE BOREAL TOAD .............................. 8 A. Taxonomy and Species Description ........................................................................ 8 B. Distinct Population Segments ................................................................................. 8 C. Distribution ........................................................................................................... 17 D. Habitat and Elevation Range ................................................................................ 18 E. Biology .................................................................................................................. 19 F. Population Status .................................................................................................. 20 THREATS ANALYSIS III. Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification, or Curtailment of Habitat or Range .. 22 IV. Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational, Scientific, or Educational Purposes ....... 26 V. Disease or Predation ......................................................................................................... 27 A. Disease .................................................................................................................. 27 B. Predation ............................................................................................................... 28 VI. Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms ............................................................. 29 VII. Other Natural and Anthropogenic Factors
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