Marine mammals and sea turtles recovering after Endangered Species Act protection

Date:  January 16, 2019

Source:  PLOS

More than three-quarters of marine mammal and sea turtle populations have significantly increased after listing of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), according to a study published January 16 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Abel Valdivia of the Center for Biological Diversity in California, and colleagues. The findings suggest that conservation measures such as tailored species management and fishery regulations, in addition to other national and international measures, appear to have been largely successful in promoting species recovery, leading to the delisting of some species and to increases in most populations.

The ESA is a powerful environmental law protecting imperiled plants and animals, and a growing number of marine species have been protected under this law as extinction risk in the oceans has increased. Yet analyses of recovery trends for marine mammals and sea turtles after listing are lacking. To address this gap in knowledge, Valdivia and colleagues gathered the best available annual abundance estimates for populations of all 62 marine mammal species and sea turtle species listed under the ESA. The researchers analyzed population trends, the magnitude of population change, and recovery status for 23 representative populations of 14 marine mammal species and eight representative populations of five sea turtle species.

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Endangered Species Act Is Working for Sea Turtles and Marine Mammals – via Herp Digest

New assessment shows landmark legislation helping dozens of species survive

by Jason Daley, 1/19/19, Sierra Magazine

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 is one of the legal cornerstones of conservation in the United States, and when it works the results can be spectacular. Bald eagles and peregrine falcons have returned to the skies, wolves and grizzly bears prowl around Yellowstone, and humpback whales ply oceans on both coasts. But deciding whether the ESA is doing its job for other species is much more difficult. There are fewer scientists keeping tabs, less data, and less money. That’s why researchers from the Center for Biodiversity looked into the recoveries of marine mammals and sea turtles listed on the ESA: 78 percent of the populations they investigated saw significant increases after listing, indicating that the law is doing its job.

For the study in the journal PLOS One, the researchers looked at the best available data for 14 marine mammal species like killer whales, fin whales, sea otters, monk seals, and sea lions, and five sea turtle species that call US waters home. Because the ESA divides species into distinct populations that it manages individually, the team analyzed 23 populations of mammals and eight populations of turtles, finding that 18 of the mammal groups were on the rise and six of the turtle populations had seen significant gains. Three mammal populations saw no gains and two saw declines, while two populations of turtles showed no increase (though no groups of turtles declined after being placed on the endangered-species list).

Some of the recoveries are striking. Hawaiian humpback whales, for instance, climbed from just 800 animals in 1979 to 10,000 in 2005, which led to a delisting. The eastern Steller sea lion population along the Pacific coast rose from 19,000 in 1990 to almost 60,000 in 2013. And sea otters doubled their numbers to almost 2,700 individuals between 1979 and 2017.

Lead author Abel Valdivia, formerly of the Center for Biological Diversity and now a senior manager at the conservation group RARE, says the study shows that turtles and marine mammals have the capacity to recover as long as the right protections are implemented in a timely manner. “We had a sense that there were a lot of populations doing good or on the path of recovery,” Valdivia says. “But no one had done the analysis.”

While the study is good news, Valdivia says there’s no conservation silver bullet that stands out in the data. Each species had an individualized recovery plan and had critical habitat declared, each getting different interventions, whether that was protecting turtle nesting grounds or keeping boats and ships a certain distance from whales. The only commonality was time. The longer the species was on the list, the more pronounced their population recovery was.

The two mammal species in decline, Valdivia says, did seem to share one problem. The population of southern resident killer whales in Puget Sound and the population of Hawaiian monk seals in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands both face challenges associated with feeding. For the seals, changes in the ocean likely associated with climate change have shifted their feeding grounds away from their traditional strongholds. The whales similarly are affected by diminishing stocks of Chinook salmon in Puget Sound as well as increases in pollution and boat traffic.

It wasn’t the team’s intention to just study whales, turtles, and high-profile, charismatic creatures. Valdivia says they initially wanted to look at all marine creatures in US waters protected by the ESA. But that was problematic. The team found that there was little data on most marine species. Many fish species have been listed as endangered in just the last decade, and recovery plans and critical habitat have yet to be implemented for them. Even well-known species, like populations of polar bears in Alaska, didn’t have enough data to create meaningful population profiles. Once those species are analyzed, the picture may not be so positive. But the team hopes to one day analyze more of the 62 marine mammals and turtles found in US waters. “For the other marine mammals and sea turtles we didn’t analyze, it’s just a matter of waiting for more data and more time for the ESA rules to get in place,” says Valdivia. 

However, if some politicians get their way, many species will never have recovery plans put in place or get the time needed to recover. The Trump administration has yet to confirm a director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which implements many ESA plans, but interim directors have included noted ESA foe Susan Combs. The current nominee, Aurelia Skipwith, who has worked for agribusiness giant Monsanto, is also feared to be an opponent of the ESA. 

Under former interior secretary Ryan Zinke, the FWS put forth proposed new rules that would overhaul the Endangered Species Act administratively, including allowing local economic impacts into listing decisions and changing the 4(d) rule, which automatically grants the same blanket protections to animals listed as “threatened” as those listed as “endangered.” Instead, the change would require that each threatened species would receive an individualized protection plan—one that would take a lot of time to develop and could be challenged in the courts. A flurry of Republican-sponsored bills in the House last year also aimed to reduce or redefine the ESA—though, with the Democrats now in charge of the chamber, those bills are likely dead. If the rule changes for the FWS are approved, it’s also likely they will lead to protracted legal battles with unknown outcomes. 

Whatever the future holds for the ESA, Valdivia says this study, at least, shows its implementation is not in vain. “I think the main point we’re trying to make is that this is a positive news story in a background of really bad news about overfishing, pollution, and climate change,” he says. “I think it’s good to see the silver lining in marine conservation.”

Vast majority of Americans support Endangered Species Act despite increasing efforts to curtail it - Political and business interests don't appear to align with public's view – via Herp Digest

July 19, 2018, Ohio State University

Just about any news story about the Endangered Species Act includes a prominent mention of the controversy around the 45-year-old law.

But when you ask ordinary Americans about the act they're mostly supportive, according to survey data reported in a new study led by Jeremy Bruskotter of The Ohio State University.

Roughly four out of five Americans support the act, and only one in 10 oppose it, found a survey of 1,287 Americans. Support has remained stable for the past two decades, the researchers report in the journal Conservation Letters.

"Every time the ESA is in the news, you hear about how controversial it is. But the three most recent studies show that, on average, approximately 83 percent of the public supports it, and that's sort of the opposite of controversial," Bruskotter said.

Survey respondents who identified with a range of eight interest groups -- including hunters and property-rights advocates -- were all at least 68 percent supportive, the study found. And support was consistent throughout various regions of the United States.

About 74 percent of conservatives, 77 percent of moderates and 90 percent of liberals said they supported the act.

The highest percentage of active opposition to the act was found in the property rights advocates group -- 21 percent said they're against it.

Bruskotter, an associate professor of environment and natural resources and a conservation policy expert, said he suspected the public's impression of the Endangered Species Act might not align with the perspective of business and political interests debating its future and seeking to roll back its reach.

"Scholars, the media and others keep talking about how controversial the act is and we wanted to know whether that was really true in the population at large," he said.

It's indisputable that the Endangered Species Act -- which is designed to protect and restore animals, plants, insects and fish at risk of extinction -- is under fire in Washington, D.C., Bruskotter said.

"In the 1990s and 2000s, a typical year saw roughly five attempts to amend the act or curtail its protections. But from 2011 to 2015, there were about 33 legislative attacks per year -- and there have been almost 150 in the last two years alone," Bruskotter said.

"I don't think at any time, maybe since the act was passed, have there been this many members of Congress working in direct opposition to the act, but that doesn't mean that they're acting in the interests of the people they represent," he said.

Bruskotter and his colleagues looked at data from a 2014 online survey sent to a sample of the U.S. general public, and census data, to conduct their analysis.

They examined results from two polls and two studies (including this new survey) in the last two decades to see if there was evidence of shifting feelings about the act over time. Support varied from a low of 79 percent to a high of 90 percent, and opposition ranged from a low of 7 percent to a high of 16 percent across these studies.

Interest groups included in the study were environmentalists, animal rights advocates, conservationists, wildlife advocates, gun rights advocates, farmers and ranchers, hunters and property rights advocates. Survey respondents were linked to a group if they identified with its mission -- they didn't have to be directly tied to a particular organization.

Bruskotter said he'd like elected officials and others in policy-making positions to consider what the vast majority of Americans think about existing protections and to not let vocal minorities drown out the will of the American people.

"Government should be responsive to its citizens, but our research suggests that is not how government is working, at least not when it comes to environmental policy," he said.

His study co-author, John Vucetich of Michigan Technological University, agreed.

"The Endangered Species Act is a genuine point of American pride; it's considered one of the best laws in the world for conserving biodiversity," Vucetich said. "So why don't our representatives represent us?"

Story Source:

Materials provided by Ohio State University. Original written by Misti Crane. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Powerful lawmaker wants to ‘invalidate’ the Endangered Species Act. He’s getting close. – via Herp Digest

Washington Post, By Darryl Fears, November 5 at 7:00 AM

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), left, at a news conference last year about legislation he supported to open up 1 million acres in Utah to recreation and oil-and-gas development. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)

The congressman who said he “would love to invalidate” the Endangered Species Act is closing in on his goal.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) recently shepherded five bills out of the Natural Resources Committee he chairs that would dismantle the law piece by piece. Many Republicans on the panel say the proposals are necessary changes that would modernize the 1973 law. Democrats and conservationists say the bills would whittle away the law’s ability to save wildlife from extinction.

One measure would force the federal government to consider the economic impact of saving a species rather than make a purely scientific call. Another would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the act along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to defer to data collected by states as the “best scientific and commercial data available,” although state funding related to the act accounts for a small fraction of that supported by the federal government.

Under a third proposal, citizens and conservation groups would be stripped of a powerful tool that allows them to file court claims against the government when they believe its protections fall short. Among other actions, the remaining bills would also remove protections for gray wolves in Midwestern states and block courts from ruling on the validity of the government’s decisions.

The legislation is setting up a titanic clash over a law that forms the foundation of American wildlife protection and has been copied around the world.

“This will be a battle royal,” said Bob Dreher, vice president for conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit group in Washington. “You’re going to see a strong, strong movement opposing cuts to the ESA. I don’t want to sound overly confident or cocky that we’re going to defeat this. It’s going to be the fight of my conservation career.”

Unlike earlier GOP attempts to weaken the act, Bishop is poised to realize his ambition because of Republicans’ control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. A Senate committee that previously held hearings on modernizing the act is preparing companion legislation, and a president who favors oil-and-gas development on federal land is more likely to sign it into law.

A bald eagle along the Hudson River in Kingston, New York. The species was protected under federal law in 1940 and removed from protection in 2007 after its numbers rebounded. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Bishop, who declined requests to comment for this story, exuded confidence about the bills’ prospects before the committee acted in July. “Hopefully, working with our colleagues in the Senate and the administration, we can lay a foundation for ESA reform that will do us well,” he said.

All of the measures, approved almost completely along party-line votes Oct. 4, are awaiting consideration by the full House.

Their passage would mark Bishop’s most significant legislative victory since the former high school teacher and debate coach entered politics in Utah, where he served as a charismatic leader of the state Republican Party and co-founded the Western States Coalition. The eight-term congressman has long been an opponent of the law, which is credited with saving the bald eagle, humpback whale, grizzly bear, California condor and the Florida manatee.

“It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species. It’s been used for control of the land,” Bishop said this year. “We’ve missed the entire purpose of the Endangered Species Act. It has been hijacked.”

Bishop’s disdain was clear in the hearings, Democrats say. On witness panels, they charge, farmers, dam operators, state wildlife managers and others opposed to the act got their say about its supposed shortcomings, without comparable opportunities for scientific and federal government experts to check those claims. The Interior Department even barred Fish and Wildlife staff members from meeting with the minority caucus’s staff members as they attempted to gather information for hearing preparations, according to lawmakers such as Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (Ariz.).

“The bias and the setup begins at the hearing,” said Grijalva, the Natural Resources Committee’s ranking Democrat. “We get one witness, they get three or four, and the drumbeat begins with the onerous things that are wrong with the act: It’s too cumbersome, it allows too many radical lawsuits, the states can do a better job, let them make the scientific and biological opinion of when wildlife should be listed.”

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) decries what he says is an attempt to strip wildlife of lawful protection. (2015 photo by Rick Scuteri/Associated Press)

The law was essentially 73 years in the making. It followed the Lacey Act of 1900 that was passed to conserve wildlife after carrier pigeons that once filled America’s skies went extinct and bison nearly disappeared. Other conservation acts that preceded it were the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1929 and Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966.

Seven years later, that preservation act was strengthened to become the Endangered Species Act. The new legislation was approved by overwhelming and bipartisan margins — 355 to 4 in the House and 92 to 0 in the Senate. President Richard M. Nixon made it official with his signature that December.

The law gives the federal government control over regulating use of land that serves as habitat for endangered species, with assistance from states. It specifies that decisions should be based on only science, without consideration of the economic effect. The law also helps people sue for the protection of animals or plants through the Equal Access to Justice Act, which pays the attorney fees of individuals and organizations that take the government to court and win.

Today, more than 2,000 species are listed as endangered or threatened, including Loggerhead sea turtles in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, whooping cranes in the West and the Texas golden gladecress.

Over time, some lawmakers began to argue against the law’s species management and protection. Protecting animals such as the spotted owl and blue whale cordoned off enormous chunks of forest, ocean and desert. Private landowners were sometimes restricted or blocked from certain activities on their property, from logging and oil or gas drilling to cattle grazing and housing development.

This year, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) noted that of the total species listed since 1973, only about 3 percent have been delisted. “As a doctor, if I admit 100 patients to the hospital and only three recover enough to be discharged, I would deserve to lose my medical license,” he said.

The rusty patched bumblebee became the first bee species in the continental United States to receive federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. It was listed in March. (Sarah Foltz Jordan/The Xerces Society/Associated Press)

Peter S. Alagona, author of “After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in Southern California,” says some concerns about the law have never been sufficiently addressed. He thinks it is due for “an update,” but he disagrees with what he calls Republicans’ “false pretenses.”

“If the complaint is [that] the recovery of a species takes too long, the question is for whom,” he said. The agencies responsible for the effort “have lacked resources” to address critical issues, “and part of the reason is they have been starved by the politicians who are now claiming it takes too long.”

GOP lawmakers argue that states better understand species within their borders and should take a leading role in protecting them. But Alagona and others say animal populations have withered over the decades because of neglect by states.

A 2016 study by the University of California at Irvine showed that state spending to protect endangered and threatened wildlife over the 10 years ending in 2014 was “negligible” compared with federal spending — a collective $57 million vs. more than $1.1 billion.

Most state regulations cover fewer species than the federal government does, and 17 states do not bother to protect plants. West Virginia and Wyoming have no legislation protecting species, the study said, although Wyoming allocates more than most states on species management. Half of the states do not require any scientific evidence as a basis to list species or remove them.

Conservationists are worried about the ESA bills now before the House, but they are especially concerned about the proposal that would require federal wildlife officials to consider the “likelihood of significant, cumulative economic effects” of listing an animal or plant. Its author, Rep. Pete Olson (R-Tex.), who has characterized the act as “a political weapon for extreme environmentalists,” said potential revenue and job losses as a consequence of species protection can no longer be ignored.

A polar bear rests with her cubs on the pack ice in the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska. The species was listed as threatened nearly a decade ago. (Steve Amstrup/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Associated Press)

Olson’s bill would demolish a tenet that historically set U.S. species protections apart from those of other countries: Science should be a much stronger factor than money.

Dan Ashe, a Fish and Wildlife director under the Obama administration who is now president and chief executive of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, warns that putting economic interests first would be a serious blow to the law. The 2008 protection of polar bears under the George W. Bush administration, he said, is just one example of action that probably would not have happened.

“What a hard decision that was,” Ashe said. “If [agency officials] were required to consider the economic impact of the polar bear listing, would they have listed it? I think not.”

The drive to weaken the Endangered Species Act is coming at a crucial time, Ashe said. “Wide scientific consensus is that we’re living amid another great extinction crisis — people are calling it the sixth mass extinction,” he said. “Looking at these five bills, I see no sign that there’s a concern for improving the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.”

Pangolins, the World's Most Trafficked Mammals, Move Closer to U.S. Endangered Species Act Protection

Washington, D.C. -- Responding to a scientific petition by conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today said Endangered Species Act protections may be warranted for seven species of pangolin, one of the most sought-after and poached wild animals in the world. With more than 1,100,000 pangolins estimated to have been trafficked globally from 2006 through 2015, Born Free USA, the Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society International (HSI), The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) petitioned to protect the species in July 2015.

Following today's preliminary positive finding on the petition, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will now invite information from scientists and the public about the pangolins' status and threats to determine whether an Endangered listing would be appropriate.

"This is an important first step in the fight to protect pangolins," said Jeff Flocken, North American Regional Director for IFAW. "Pangolins have been silently killed and trafficked for far too long. It's time to recognize the grave situation threatening the survival of the species and offer them the protections they rightfully deserve."

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Wood Turtles Move Toward Endangered Species Act Protection: Declines Driven by Habitat Destruction Across Midwest, Northeast - via Herp Digest

RICHMOND, Vt.— 9/17/15 In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that the wood turtle may qualify for Endangered Species Act protection. The Center first petitioned for this turtle — along with more than 50 other amphibians and reptiles — in July 2012 because habitat loss and other factors are threatening them with extinction.    

Wood turtle photo by Diane Baedeker Petit, USDA. This photo is available for media use.

“Wood turtles are dying out mostly because people are degrading the waterways where they live,” said Mollie Matteson, a senior scientist in the Center’s Northeast office. “The streams and rivers used by wood turtles are important for people too, for recreation and as a water supply. Endangered Species Act protection for this turtle will help protect these essential areas from destruction.”

Hurt by channelization of rivers and streams, careless timber-harvesting practices along waterways, urbanization and agricultural practices, including pesticide use, the wood turtles’ remaining populations tend to be isolated, greatly reducing the chances of their natural recovery in areas where their numbers have plummeted. Traditionally low survival rates among juvenile wood turtles have been made worse by the increased prevalence of turtle predators, such as raccoons and skunks, which thrive in urbanized areas. Wild collection for the pet trade is another threat to the turtle’s survival.

“Wood turtles are integral parts of the wild where they live, whether it’s a remote forest stream or a suburban wetland,” said Matteson. “Losing them will impoverish those places and our own connection with the natural world.”

Nearly 1 in 4 amphibians and reptiles is at risk of dying out, scientists say. In fact, although they’ve been around for hundreds of millions of years and survived every major extinction period, amphibians and reptiles are now dying off at up to 10,000 times the historic extinction rate due largely to human impacts. This loss is alarming because they play important roles as predators and prey in their ecosystems and are valuable indicators of environmental health.

The Center was joined in its petition for 53 amphibians and reptiles by several renowned scientists and herpetologists, including E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy and Michael Lannoo. More than 200 scientists sent a letter asking the Service to review the status of the petitioned animals.

Today’s “90-day finding” is the first in a series of required decisions on the petition. At the 90-day finding stage, the Fish and Wildlife Service determines whether the petition presents sufficient information to warrant further consideration, a process that requires few agency resources. Earlier this year the Service issued positive 90-day findings for 20 other amphibians and reptiles. The next step is a full status review of the species by the Service.

View an interactive state-by-state map showing where the petitioned species live and download a photo of the wood turtle for media use. Wood turtles are found in Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For Immediate Release, September 17, 2015

Contact: Mollie Matteson, (802) 318-1487; mmatteson@biologicaldiversity.org

Western Pond Turtle Moves Toward Endangered Species Act Protection - via Herp Digest

Turtle Battling Steep Declines in California, Oregon, Washington

Press Release - Center for Biological Diversity 

For Immediate Release, April 9, 2015

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— In response to a 2012 petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and several renowned scientists and herpetologists, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceannounced today that Endangered Species Act protection may be warranted for the western pond turtle. The agency will now conduct a one-year status review on the turtle, which faces declines of up to 99 percent in some areas, including Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

“The Endangered Species Act is the most powerful tool available to save western pond turtles, so I’m really happy that these amazing reptiles are a step closer to the protection they so desperately need,” said Collette Adkins, a Center biologist and lawyer who works to protect reptiles and amphibians. “Western pond turtles are integral to the wild places where they live. Losing them would impoverish those places and our own connection with the natural world.”

Western pond turtles are declining in abundance rangewide, especially in the northernmost portion and the southern third of the range. The animals are listed as state endangered in Washington, sensitive/critical in Oregon, and a species of special concern in California. Although habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats to the turtle, none of these state laws provides effective habitat protection. 

“Threats like habitat destruction from urbanization and agriculture are driving western pond turtles toward extinction,” said Adkins. “Much-needed federal protection of these turtles would help ensure that rivers and wetlands across the West Coast are protected, both for the turtles and for people.”

Today’s finding responds to a 2012 petition that sought protection for the turtle and 52 other amphibians and reptiles found across the country — the largest ever petition focused on protection of amphibians and reptiles. The Fish and Wildlife Service must next issue a “12-month finding” on the turtle that will propose protection under the Endangered Species Act, reject protection under the Act or add the turtle to the candidate waiting list for protection.

Background
Western pond turtles are found from western Washington south to northwestern Baja California. The name “pond” turtle is something of a misnomer because this species more frequently lives in rivers and spends a lot of time in terrestrial habitats. Western pond turtles are highly opportunistic eaters and will consume almost anything they can catch and overpower.

In June of 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of new research revealing that the western pond turtle is actually at least two species, each of which is therefore more endangered than previously thought. According to that study, all populations north of the San Francisco Bay area and populations from the Central Valley north (including the apparently introduced Nevada population) are now known as Emys marmorata. Turtles in the southern portions of the range — the central coast range south of the San Francisco Bay and the Mojave River — are described as Emys pallida. Turtles from Baja California are tentatively also considered Emys pallida,but these animals may represent another distinct species pending results from additional analysis. 

An upper respiratory disease epidemic in Washington in 1990 left a total population of fewer than 100 western pond turtles in the state. They are essentially extirpated in the lower Puget Sound, and only two populations remain in the Columbia River Gorge. In the Willamette Valley in Oregon, western pond turtles appear to have declined to a level that represents roughly 1 percent of historic levels. In California’s Central Valley, where most of the natural habitat has been eliminated, surveys detected turtles at only 15 of 55 sites, with sizable populations only at five sites. Pond turtles from Southern California are in precipitous decline, with few stable, reproducing populations known between Los Angeles and the Mexican border.

Contact: Collette Adkins, (651) 955-3821

Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for 9 Rare Caribbean Lizards--- Skinks Found Only in Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands Threatened by Introduced Predators, Habitat Destruction - via Herp Digest

Contact: Collette Adkins Giese, (651) 955-3821

Press Release, St. Petersburg, FL. 2/11/14 — The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition today seeking Endangered Species Act protection for nine newly identified species of skinks found only in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. These rare lizards with smooth skins are on the knife’s edge of extinction due to introduced predators and habitat destruction. Reptiles around the globe are in the midst of an extinction crisis with roughly 1 in 5 species considered endangered or at risk of disappearing.

“Time is running out for these lizards,” said Collette Adkins Giese, a Center biologist and lawyer focused on protecting reptiles and amphibians. “The Caribbean is home to extremely rare animals found nowhere else in the world, but too many have already gone extinct. To save these skinks, we need to get them protected under the Endangered Species Act.”

Scientists recently recognized the nine petitioned skinks, along with dozens of others on Caribbean islands. The scientists initiated their study after finding unusually large genetic differences among populations of these skinks on different islands in the Caribbean. All of the newly identified endemic Caribbean skinks are near extinction (or already extinct) due to introduced predators like mongooses and cats, as well as large-scale habitat destruction for development and agriculture.

This loss is alarming because reptiles play important roles as predators and prey in their ecosystems and they’re valuable indicators of environmental health. The animals in today’s petition will reap life-saving benefits from the Endangered Species Act, which has a 99 percent success rate at staving off extinction for species under its care.

“Skinks have a slow-moving curiosity and are not adapted to fast predators such as the mongoose, introduced by humans,” said Dr. Blair Hedges of Pennsylvania State University, the lead author of the 2012 study that recognized the petitioned species. “The survival of these skinks depends on the special measures of protection that only the Endangered Species Act can provide.”

Although reptiles have been around for hundreds of millions of years and survived every major extinction period, now, due largely to human impacts, they’re dying off at up to 10,000 times the historic extinction rate. About 20 percent of reptiles in the world are endangered or vulnerable to extinction. Within the Caribbean, scientists estimate that reptiles have levels of endangerment that are at or near the highest levels worldwide.

The Center was joined in its petition for these nine skinks by Dr. Renata Platenberg, an ecologist specializing in Caribbean reptiles.

Background

The petitioned-for Caribbean skinks, which can grow to be about 8 inches long, are unique among reptiles in having reproductive systems most like humans, including a placenta and live birth. They have cylindrical bodies, and most have ill-defined necks that, together with their sinuous movements and smooth, bronze-colored skin, make them look like stubby snakes.

Four of the species for which we petitioned are found within the territory of Puerto Rico: the Culebra skink (Culebra and the adjacent islet of Culebrita), Mona skink (Mona Island), Monito skink (Monito Island) and Puerto Rican skink (Puerto Rico and several of its satellite islands). The remaining five are found in the Virgin Islands: the Greater St. Croix skink (St. Croix and its satellite Green Cay), Lesser St. Croix skink (St. Croix), Greater Virgin Islands skink (St. John and St. Thomas), Lesser Virgin Islands skinks (St. Thomas and two adjacent islets, several British Virgin Islands) and Virgin Islands bronze skink (St. Thomas and several of its islets, several British Virgin Islands).

Eight of the nine petitioned-for species fall within the genus Spondylurus, and one falls within the genus Capitellum. The genus Spondylurus includes what are now known as the Antillean four-lined skinks because of the four major dark stripes on their back and sides. Skinks in the genus Capitellum are called the Antillean small-headed skinks and have small feet and short heads, lacking dark dorsolateral stripes.

These Animals Prove The Endangered Species Act Really Does Work

For over 40 years, the Endangered Species Act has been saving plants and animals from extinction.

Co-administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1,400 domestic species of plants and animals and 600 foreign species are currently protected under this law -- and less than one percent of those species have ever been delisted because of extinction, according to Defenders of Wildlife.

Species can gain protection under the act via a classification of "endangered," meaning "a species is considered in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range," or "threatened," meaning "a species is considered likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future, but is not currently in danger of extinction," according to the USFWS. Protection under this law warrants advanced habitat protection, extensive monitoring and take-and-trade bans or restrictions.

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Endangered Species Act Protection Sought for Seven Rare Amphibians and Reptiles in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas - via Herp Digest

Lizards, Turtles, Toads and Salamanders Face Extinction

Press Release 1/16/14, Albuquerque, N.M.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today seeking Endangered Species Act protection for seven Southwest amphibians and reptiles. The Center petitioned for these species — the Rio Grande cooter, Arizona toad, Arizona night lizard, Bezy’s night lizard, reticulate collared lizard, Yuman Desert fringe-toed lizard and Cascade Caverns salamander — in July 2012 because habitat loss and other factors are threatening their survival. 

“The Southwest is home to some of the nation’s most fascinating scaly and slimy creatures,” said Collette Adkins Giese, a Center biologist and lawyer focused on protecting amphibians and reptiles. “Although few people have heard of, let alone seen, a Bezy’s night lizard or Rio Grande cooter, these unique species are an important part of the web of life and of what makes the Southwest unique. Without Endangered Species Act protection, we’re likely to lose these rare lizards, turtles, toads and salamanders forever.”

Although amphibians and reptiles have been around for hundreds of millions of years and survived every major extinction period, now, due largely to human impacts, they’re dying off at up to 10,000 times the historic extinction rate. This loss is alarming because they play important roles as predators and prey in their ecosystems and are valuable indicators of environmental health.

“There’s broad scientific consensus that amphibians and reptiles face a profound, human-driven extinction crisis that requires prompt action,” said Adkins Giese. “The Endangered Species Act has a nearly perfect record of stopping animals from going extinct — it’s hands-down our best tool for saving rare amphibians and reptiles.”

The Center was joined in its petition for these seven species and other amphibians and reptiles by several renowned scientists and herpetologists, including E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy and Michael Lannoo. Also, more than 200 scientists sent a letter last year asking that the Service review the status of the petitioned animals.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is required to make an initial finding within 90 days of receiving a petition about whether protections may be warranted — but more than a year later the agency still has not acted. The 90-day finding is the first in a series of required decisions and simply requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether the petition presents sufficient information to warrant further consideration, a process that requires few agency resources.

Species Highlights:

Yuman Desert fringe-toed lizard (Arizona): These striking little camouflaged lizards, known only to desert sites in southwestern Arizona, have long made their homes in sparsely vegetated areas of windblown sand. The fringe of scales on the sides of their toes helps them run across loose sand without sinking; tightly overlapping eyelids, earflaps and valve-like nostrils protect them from the constantly blowing sand. Their fragile habitat is under ongoing threat from development and off-road vehicles.

Cascade Caverns salamander (Texas): Perfectly adapted to their wholly aquatic life, these pale, ghost-like salamanders with external gills and recessed eyes spend their entire lives in the darkened worlds of Texas cave springs. Because they breathe through external gills and their skin, these highly unique amphibians require clean, clear-flowing water with a high content of dissolved oxygen. Their health is an important barometer of water quality. More and more pollutants, from pesticides and herbicides to fertilizers and household solvents, are showing up in surface and stormwater runoff that eventually finds its way into the underground springs where these salamanders previously thrived.

Arizona toad (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah): These toads occur mainly in Arizona but also in southeastern Nevada, southwestern Utah and western New Mexico, where they depend on shallow, flowing, permanent water. Dams and reservoirs have dramatically altered waterways, replacing the flowing water preferred by Arizona toads with still water favored by Woodhouse’s toads, which displace and hybridize with Arizona toads. Hybridization and habitat loss are the biggest threats to the toads, which are now absent from more than 75 percent of their historic localities. Enlarged glands on the sides of their necks produce steroids that make Arizona toads unpalatable to some predators, inflaming the mouth and throat and causing nausea, irregular heartbeat, and, in extreme cases, death.

Rio Grande cooter (New Mexico, Texas): These beautifully marked turtles live in large, deep stream pools with relatively clear water and sandy or rocky bottoms in the Pecos-lower Rio Grande basin from New Mexico through Texas, as well as in Mexico. Scientists were unable to locate any young turtles in Texas, which is a troubling sign of a dying population struggling due to habitat degradation and overcollection. Intermittent stream flows from water diversions and flood control practices have made vast stretches of the Rio Grande uninhabitable, while river pollution by natural gas and oilfield runoff likely accounts for the apparent absence of the species over a 100-mile stretch of the lower Pecos.

Reticulate collared lizard (Texas): The reticulate collared lizard is found nowhere in the world but Texas, where it depends on open spaces for running and foraging and is therefore threatened by dense mats of nonnative grasses planted for cattle grazing. The lizards mostly eat insects but also sometimes small reptiles, mice and plants. The reticulate collared lizard is listed as threatened in Texas, but this status does not protect it from loss of habitat, its greatest threat. 

Arizona night lizard 

and 

Bezy’s night lizard (Arizona): Arizona night lizards are known only from Yavapai County, Ariz., and Bezy’s night lizards are known from nine localities in central Arizona. Because they have extremely limited ranges, these lizards are highly vulnerable to extinction from any threat. Neither lizard is protected under state law. Collection for the pet trade is one of the biggest threats, and habitat degradation by collectors using devices to pry on its rocky habitats is likely significant in some areas.

Contact: Collette Adkins Giese, (651) 955-3821

Montana Landowners May Soon Shoot, Trap More Wolves (Op-Ed)

Zack Strong, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) | January 17, 2014 07:41pm ET

Last spring, a group of us watched this wolf unsuccessfully stalk a bison calf in Yellowstone National Park's Lamar Valley. Under Montana's new rules, even wolves that spend most of their lives in the park could be shot and trapped on private land any time of year, without a permit.

Last month, more than a million Americans registered their opposition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) proposed plan to remove Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in most of the lower-48 United States. This was the largest number of comments ever submitted on a federal action involving endangered species.

Read on

Endangered Species Act: a 40-year fight to save animals

Forty years after the passage of the federal Endangered Species Act, the state and Snohomish County remain squarely on the edge of that preservation frontier.

More than 40 animal species in Washington are listed by the federal government as either endangered or threatened under the law, signed by President Richard Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973. Many others are listed as species of concern.

Among creatures found in waters in and around Snohomish and Island counties, seven species of fish or marine mammals are listed under the act.

Continued

Great White Shark

The National Marine Fisheries Service recently declined to protect great white sharks off the coast of California under the Endangered Species Act, a decision criticized by Oceana, the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental advocates. The Monterray Bay Aquarium, which studies and also displays great white sharks, was more supportive, saying that the public concern over sharks was well placed, and that the federal decision was encouraging because it didn't find the sharks to be at risk of extinction.

Advocates suggest that fewer than 350 sharks remain at two key sites in the Pacific, and said that protecting the sharks is necessary to ensure this sub-population survives, particularly in the face of death from gillnet fisheries targeting other fish. So-called bycatch in gillnet fisheries is a concern not only for other fish, but also marine mammals, turtles and sea birds. The State of California will consider protecting the species under state law.

“The federal government simply made the wrong decision in the face of the best available science,” said Geoff Shester, California program director for Oceana. “However, our efforts have demonstrated the dire need for more research on West Coast white sharks, and we should all agree that steps need to be taken immediately to start managing the white shark bycatch problem in gillnet fisheries.”

Read more:

Great White Sharks in California - Picture of Great White Shark - The Daily Green

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Argentinian Population of the Broad-Snouted Caiman on ESA Goes from Endangered to Threatened -Successful Conservation Effort in Argentina-Leads to Endangered Species Reclassification, Carefully Regulated Trade – via Herp Digest

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a final rulemaking that reclassifies the Argentinian population of the broad-snouted caiman from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A longstanding and successful management effort to increase the numbers of this crocodilian species has made it possible to reduce the restrictions on the Argentinian population (called a “distinct population segment” (DPS) under the ESA), and include it in a special rule which allows carefully monitored and regulated trade. Inclusion in this special rule will enable trade in broad-snouted caiman parts and products originating from Argentina only.

The species has been listed as endangered throughout its range since 1976, mainly as a result of illegal harvest for its valuable hide and an overall loss of wetland habitat. The species is found in northeast Argentina, southeast Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Uruguay. Intensive and largely successful management efforts conducted by Argentina to bolster the population of this species led to that country submitting a petition to the Service in 2007 requesting a reclassification under the ESA.

The Service has found that Argentina’s caiman population is widespread throughout its historic range and its nesting areas are expanding. Broad-snouted caiman are even being seen in areas from which they had previously disappeared. Argentina’s intensive management efforts and enforcement of all applicable international laws and treaties have been successful in increasing its caiman population. The key to this enhancement program involved the cooperation of farmers and ranchers to gather the eggs from the nests, rear the young, and then release them back to the wild.

In 1975, broad-snouted caiman was placed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), effectively prohibiting international commercial trade in the species and its parts and products. By 1997, Argentina’s caiman population had begun to increase due to the success of their ranching program and was subsequently down-listed to Appendix II, allowing limited trade in hides subject to a strict tagging and permitting program.

However, the broad-snouted caiman was prohibited from commercial import into the United States due to its endangered status under the ESA. The reclassification of broad-snouted caiman to threatened will allow for limited commercial import of caiman hides and products, aligning U.S. domestic law with the view of the international community on trade in this population.

The status of the species in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, or elsewhere, remains unchanged and these populations will continue to be fully protected by the ESA. The population of this species within these other countries is described as a separate DPS which remains listed as endangered, and subsequently, there are no provisions for trade. A species-wide down-listing cannot be considered at this time owing to a lack of population and monitoring information from the other range countries.

The final rulemaking describing these actions was published in the June 25, 2013, edition of the* Federal Register. *For additional information, go to 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-06-25/pdf/2013-15006.pdf**

For photos of the species, see http://flic.kr/s/aHsjGmYecE

To learn more about the Endangered Species program’s Branch of Foreign Species, visit:

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/international-activities.html.

For more info

Contact:

Claire Cassel

703-358-2357

claire_cassel@fws.gov