C
chatnoir
Guest
http://www.gazette.com/articles/habitat_26892___article.html/species_mouse.html
Lawsuit attacks loss of habitat
Government agency's choices for 55 species are questioned
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
September 5, 2007 - 8:42AM
Northern El Paso County, home to the threatened Preble's meadow
jumping mouse, was improperly left off a list of the mouse's critical
habitat, a conservation group says.
The Center for Biological Diversity has announced plans to sue the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over decisions affecting 55 threatened
and endangered species, including the tiny mouse that lives only along
streams on the Front Range of Colorado and Wyoming.
The shy, nocturnal rodent, which has a long tail and a dark stripe
down the middle of its back, can leap 18 inches into the air. Its
habitat has been decimated by development on the Front Range, and it
was declared threatened in 1998.
At issue is the agency's 2003 decision to cut the proposed critical
habitat area from 57,446 acres to 31,222. In El Paso County, 3,110
acres to the north, east and south of the Air Force Academy were
removed from the final listing. Another 12,545 acres in Douglas County
were also removed.
Much of the would-be protected area in northern El Paso County is near
Interstate 25 and ripe for development.
The Tucson, Ariz.-based environmental group wants the Fish and
Wildlife Service to restart the process of designating critical
habitat.
A critical habitat designation means a federal agency, or any project
receiving federal funding or requiring a federal permit, can't harm
the species or its habitat. Under the original plan, land within 360
feet of eight northern El Paso County streams would have been
included.
The Center for Biological Diversity last week notified the Fish and
Wildlife Service of its intent to sue, saying political influence by
Department of Interior officials was present in decisions on species
protection.
The center's policy director, Kieran Suckling, said mouse habitat is
rapidly disappearing in El Paso, Douglas and Boulder counties.
"We'll have a situation where the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is
stuck on the endangered species list forever because the habitat
needed for it to recover is gone forever," Suckling said.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the additional critical
habitat designation is unnecessary, because the Endangered Species Act
already requires that any development assess the impact on endangered
species and mitigate it.
Suckling, though, said there are key differences between the two
levels of protection. While a developer must mitigate damage done to a
listed species' habitat, critical habitat can't be destroyed, he
said.
He said that means developers are less likely to pursue projects in
such areas and that officials impose more stringent standards on
development.
Of the 55 species to be included in the lawsuit, the government
removed critical habitat from 44 - a total of 8.7 million acres. It
also removed one animal from the endangered species list, refused to
put three on the list and proposed to downgrade or remove protection
for seven others, according to the intent to sue notice.
For the Preble's mouse, it could be a moot argument, anyway.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the decision of former
deputy assistant secretary Julie MacDonald in 2005 to take the mouse
off the threatened species list.
Agency spokeswoman Diane Katzenberger said a decision will be made by
the end of October. Restrictions to protect the mouse remain in place
until a final decision is made.
Officials in El Paso County and Colorado Springs, meanwhile, are
drawing up a conservation plan for the mouse, which will be submitted
to county commissioners and City Council this fall. If approved by the
Fish and Wildlife Service, protection of the mouse would be taken up
at the local level - unless it were removed from the threatened
species list.
The only other Colorado species included in the pending lawsuit is the
Southwestern willow flycatcher, an endangered bird. Though the Fish
and Wildlife Service originally proposed to designate 376,095 acres as
critical habitat, including parts of Costilla, Conejos, Alamosa and
Rio Grande counties in Colorado, the final decision designated 120,824
acres, none in Colorado.
According to the conservation group, the lawsuit would be the largest
legal challenge ever to decisions made under the Endangered Species
Act.
Lawsuit attacks loss of habitat
Government agency's choices for 55 species are questioned
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
September 5, 2007 - 8:42AM
Northern El Paso County, home to the threatened Preble's meadow
jumping mouse, was improperly left off a list of the mouse's critical
habitat, a conservation group says.
The Center for Biological Diversity has announced plans to sue the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over decisions affecting 55 threatened
and endangered species, including the tiny mouse that lives only along
streams on the Front Range of Colorado and Wyoming.
The shy, nocturnal rodent, which has a long tail and a dark stripe
down the middle of its back, can leap 18 inches into the air. Its
habitat has been decimated by development on the Front Range, and it
was declared threatened in 1998.
At issue is the agency's 2003 decision to cut the proposed critical
habitat area from 57,446 acres to 31,222. In El Paso County, 3,110
acres to the north, east and south of the Air Force Academy were
removed from the final listing. Another 12,545 acres in Douglas County
were also removed.
Much of the would-be protected area in northern El Paso County is near
Interstate 25 and ripe for development.
The Tucson, Ariz.-based environmental group wants the Fish and
Wildlife Service to restart the process of designating critical
habitat.
A critical habitat designation means a federal agency, or any project
receiving federal funding or requiring a federal permit, can't harm
the species or its habitat. Under the original plan, land within 360
feet of eight northern El Paso County streams would have been
included.
The Center for Biological Diversity last week notified the Fish and
Wildlife Service of its intent to sue, saying political influence by
Department of Interior officials was present in decisions on species
protection.
The center's policy director, Kieran Suckling, said mouse habitat is
rapidly disappearing in El Paso, Douglas and Boulder counties.
"We'll have a situation where the Preble's meadow jumping mouse is
stuck on the endangered species list forever because the habitat
needed for it to recover is gone forever," Suckling said.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the additional critical
habitat designation is unnecessary, because the Endangered Species Act
already requires that any development assess the impact on endangered
species and mitigate it.
Suckling, though, said there are key differences between the two
levels of protection. While a developer must mitigate damage done to a
listed species' habitat, critical habitat can't be destroyed, he
said.
He said that means developers are less likely to pursue projects in
such areas and that officials impose more stringent standards on
development.
Of the 55 species to be included in the lawsuit, the government
removed critical habitat from 44 - a total of 8.7 million acres. It
also removed one animal from the endangered species list, refused to
put three on the list and proposed to downgrade or remove protection
for seven others, according to the intent to sue notice.
For the Preble's mouse, it could be a moot argument, anyway.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the decision of former
deputy assistant secretary Julie MacDonald in 2005 to take the mouse
off the threatened species list.
Agency spokeswoman Diane Katzenberger said a decision will be made by
the end of October. Restrictions to protect the mouse remain in place
until a final decision is made.
Officials in El Paso County and Colorado Springs, meanwhile, are
drawing up a conservation plan for the mouse, which will be submitted
to county commissioners and City Council this fall. If approved by the
Fish and Wildlife Service, protection of the mouse would be taken up
at the local level - unless it were removed from the threatened
species list.
The only other Colorado species included in the pending lawsuit is the
Southwestern willow flycatcher, an endangered bird. Though the Fish
and Wildlife Service originally proposed to designate 376,095 acres as
critical habitat, including parts of Costilla, Conejos, Alamosa and
Rio Grande counties in Colorado, the final decision designated 120,824
acres, none in Colorado.
According to the conservation group, the lawsuit would be the largest
legal challenge ever to decisions made under the Endangered Species
Act.
