HELENA - Habitat critical to the future of the Canada lynx belongs in a category that in some cases could restrict logging or other activities on those lands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday.
The agency proposed a critical-habitat designation for parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota and Maine, but did so tepidly.
"That's pretty much been their policy for some time and they include boilerplate language to that effect in virtually every designation," said Michael Senatore of Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C. "We don't agree with it."
After a lawsuit by Defenders of Wildlife and other groups, the lynx in 2000 was listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The critical-habitat designation is required as part of that status. A notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register opened a three-month public-comment period.
In determining critical habitat, the Fish and Wildlife Service considers places with features essential to conserve a species. In the case of the forest-dwelling lynx, a cat weighing 18-23 pounds, those features include piles of woody debris for dens and the presence of snowshoe hares as prey.
Federal agencies that contemplate conducting, funding or authorizing activities that could affect the habitat would have to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service, which would decide whether the proposed action threatened the lynx.
Besides logging _ which the service said may harm or benefit lynx, depending on the project _ such activities could include road work on federal land, expansion of government-regulated ski areas, and work that is on private land but involves Army Corps of Engineers permits. Private action on private land would not be affected.
In many instances, the consultation required under the habitat designation already occurs through other requirements of the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.
About 27,000 square miles of federal, state, private and tribal land fall within boundaries of the proposed critical-habitat areas, a number that stands to fall after some U.S. Forest Service lands are removed because they are covered by an agreement to reduce lynx risks, the Fish and Wildlife Service said. Several other areas also are excluded because they are covered by a conservation plan, the agency said.
The largest critical-habitat areas for lynx are in northern Montana and northern Idaho, which together have 10,760 square miles, and in Maine, with 10,633 square miles. Minnesota has about 3,500 square miles and Washington about 2,000.
The habitat designation did not include an estimate of the size of the lynx population.
Montana's Western Environmental Trade Association, which includes industries such as wood products and mining, said the designations open a door to too many restrictions with scant benefit.
"Too many hoops to jump through, and where does it end?" spokesman Don Allen said. "It's going to be another cloud hanging over everything you do on federal land, and some private and state land will get caught up in it, too."
Colorado, where the state Division of Wildlife has released some 200 lynx since 1999 as part of a recovery effort, was left out of the proposal. That is because the Colorado lynx are not a natural population, and whether the population will be self-sustaining is unclear, Nordstrom said. The animals came mostly from Canada. Trapping, poisoning and development eradicated Colorado's native lynx.
"It's just mind boggling that they would completely write off the one place where we're recovering lynx," said Jacob Smith, executive director of Denver's Center for Native Ecosystems. State officials in Colorado declined to comment.
A final decision on a habitat designation is due by next November.
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)