Red fox sighting may spur federal protection

By Michael Doyle
mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com
Published: Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2010 - 1:55 pm

WASHINGTON – The rarely seen Sierra Nevada red fox could be the next candidate for federal protection – and perhaps controversy – now that one has been photographed prowling near Sonora Pass.

Last month, a remote camera set up by the Forest Service to monitor a bait station snapped a picture of the red fox, previously thought to be confined to the Lassen Volcanic National Park area, 150 miles away.

Saliva samples subsequently analyzed by a UC Davis team confirmed the red fox's identity.

"It looks like it may be an excellent candidate for listing," Lisa Belensky, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in an interview Tuesday. "We're considering it."

John Buckley, director of the Twain Harte-based Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, agreed Tuesday that "there is justification for listing (the fox) and having a recovery plan."

New Endangered Species Act listings are harder than ever to get, with the federal law remaining intensely controversial, its costs and consequences subject to question.

"Our state water supply has been hijacked by the radically irresponsible Endangered Species Act," Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, declared in one illustrative House speech last year.

Radanovich is retiring at the end of the year. His likely replacement, Republican state Sen. Jeff Denham of Merced, appears to share the Endangered Species Act skepticism commonly voiced by Radanovich and other Central Valley lawmakers.

Radanovich's 19th Congressional District includes Sonora and the Stanislaus National Forest, the region where scientists are now redoubling their efforts to find evidence of the Sierra Nevada red fox.

"Now there's proof, evidence that the fox's population has spread," Buckley said.

The tracks may eventually lead in several different directions.

Federal scientists can propose adding the fox to the endangered species list that currently numbers 1,959 plants and animals. The Fish and Wildlife Service currently identifies another 48 species that have been proposed for listing.

An additional 245 species are deemed "candidate" species. These are plants and animals deemed to be at risk but which are not added to the protected list because of what the Fish and Wildlife Service considers higher-priority obligations.

"There are species that sit on that candidate list for years and years," Belensky said.

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/08/3012009/red-fox-sighting-may-spur-federal.html