If you’re
worried about the future of blog bluegrass and Blanding’s turtles in Wisconsin, now’s the
time to speak up.
Experts from
the state Department of Natural Resources said they believe those and 14 other
species of plant and animal no longer need the protection of state law, but
eight other critters do.
The DNR is
proposing to make these changes to the state’s list of endangered and
threatened species, but the public has a chance to weigh in first.
“The way our
state manages its endangered species is through rule, and we’ve got to go
through the rule process, which includes getting public comment,” said Erin
Crain, director of the DNR Bureau of Endangered Species. The DNR has engaged
its own and outside experts to keep tabs on the welfare of various species, but
public comment is also helpful and is required by law before changes can be
made, she said.
Green Bay is hosting one of the sessions at 11
a.m. Tuesday in room 1034 of the Instructional Services building at the
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Sessions are also being held Tuesday in Eau Claire, Milwaukee and Madison, and Wednesday in Wausau. The public can also submit comment to
the DNR by mail or email this week.
Under Wisconsin’s Endangered
Species Law, it is illegal for people to kill, transport, possess, process or
sell species that are listed as endangered or threatened. The law requires DNR
to review and revise the endangered or threatened species list as needed. Since
the first list was developed in 1972, it has been revised 10 times, most
recently in 2011 to add cave bats due to the imminent threat of white-nose
syndrome.
New threats
spark the need for change, but so does new information, like finding out a
plant or animal isn’t as rare as scientists thought, Crain said. Also, protection
often helps a certain species rally to the point where it no longer is in
danger, she said.
“Wolves are a
good example of the recovery of a species,” Crain said. “They used to be
state-listed. The Wisconsin population over
the years became very healthy, and the legislature determined they would like
to see a harvest.”
The latest
proposal recommends removing seven animals from the list: greater redhorse
(fish), barn owl, snowy egret, Bewick’s wren, pygmy snaketail (dragonfly),
Blanding’s turtle and Butler’s
gartersnake. The proposal also recommends removing nine plants from the list:
American fever-few, bog bluegrass, Canada horse-balm, drooping sedge,
hemlock parsley, prairie Indian-plantain, snowy campion, yellow gentian and
yellow giant hyssop.
The DNR wants
to add three birds to the list — the black tern, Kirtland’s warbler and the
upland sandpiper. It also wants to add the fawnsfoot, which is a freshwater
mussel, and four insects — the beach-dune tiger beetle, ottoe skipper, a
leafhopper and a planthopper.
New endangered
species?
The DNR
proposes to add these species to its endangered species list:
• Black
tern (Chlidonias niger): A gull-like bird
but with long, pointed wings and bill. It feeds by diving head first into
water. Adults are mostly black with a dark gray back, wings and tail, uniform
pale gray underwings and a fairly short tail. Habitat: marshes,
shorelands, wetlands. A 2010 count revealed fewer than 1,000, making it
possible the entire statewide population has fallen below 3,000. Threats: loss
and degradation of breeding, wintering and migration route habitat.
• Kirtland’s warbler
(Dendroica kirtlandii): Large
blue-gray and yellow warbler, known to “pump” its tail. Male is bluish gray
above, with dark streaks in the feathers; yellow below, with black spots or
streaks confined to the sides; blackish area in front and below the eye
(missing in female), with prominent white crescents outlining the top and
bottom of the eye. Markings less pronounced in females, some males and young.
Wing bars present but not conspicuous. Habitat:Nests in jack pine.
Population unknown. In Michigan,
3,600 were counted, about half were male, in 2009. Threat: Habitat
loss, predation by brown-headed cowbirds, insecticide.
• Hairy-necked
tiger beetle or beach-dune tiger beetle (Cicindela hirticollis rhodensis): Brownish tiger beetle with light
markings, 12-15 mm long, black appendages, long white hairs on
neck. Habitat: Lakeshore beaches. Threats: lake levels, public beach
use, construction of breakwaters and riprap.
• Ottoe
skipper (Hesperia Ottoe):
Medium-sized butterfly, wingspan between 11/4 and 1 11/16 inches. Upper sides
of wings are orange-brown. Habitat: Prairie grassland. Threat:
Disappearing habitat.
• Upland
sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda):
Medium-sized shorebird with small head, dark, prominent eyes, long, thin neck,
long tail and wings, yellow legs. Habitat: Pastures, idle grassland.
Population estimated at 750-2,000. Threat: Early population declines due
to hunting, in more recent years habitat disappearance from agriculture.
• Fawnsfoot (Truncilla donaciformis): Small,
smooth-shelled freshwater mussel, up to 2 inches long. Dark green rays
comprised of chevrons on the back half give a linear zigzag appearance to the
shell.Habitat: Rivers, lakes. In Wisconsin,
they have only been found in the Mississippi River
and major tributaries. Threat: Zebra mussels, declining water quality.
• Prairie
leafhopper (Attenuipyga vanduzeei):
Females have reduced wings but are 15-18 mm long, larger than the fully winged
males, which are 11-13 mm long. Both are tawny, but males are darker. The young
are green. Habitat: Prairie. Threat: Loss of habitat.
• Robertson’s
flightless planthopper, aka Fitch’s planthopper (Fitchiella robertsoni): Small beetle-like insect with beetle-like snout
but more closely related to cicadas. Typically 3-5 mm long, with large,
black-margined snout, short forewings, light grayish to olive brown body
mottled with patches of blackish and brown, no hind wings.Habitat: In
Wisconsin, only in the bluffs along the Mississippi River.
Threat: Invasive non-native plants.
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