Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Thursday, August 4, 2011
Feds Agree to Consider Four of Six Sand Dune Beetles for Protection

Fish and Wildlife Rejects Two Petitioned Scarabs for Further Review
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

TheU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to consider four sand dune beetles inNevada for listing under the Endangered Species Act. WildEarth Guardianspetitioned to list six scarabs under the act in January 2010: Crescent Dunesaegialian scarab, Crescent Dunes serican scarab, Giuliani’s dune, largeaegialian scarab, Sand Mountain serican scarab, and Hardy’s aegialian scarab. Eachbeetle is endemic to the sand dunes where it occurs, and each is considered extremelyrare, but the Service has declared that the last two, Sand Mountain andHardy’s, do not warrant further review.

“Weare surprised that the agency excluded the Hardy’s and Sand Mountain beetlesfrom further review,” said Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director forWildEarth Guardians. “We documented and observed greater threats to these twospecies than any of the others.”

Sanddunes in the Great Basin support unique flora and fauna, including a host of imperiledbeetles. Each has evolved to use these hot, dry, sandy environments and thelimited vegetation that grows there. All six beetles Guardians petitioned areconsidered “critically imperiled” by NatureServe.

Thebeetles occur at three dune systems or complexes in Nevada.

1. Sand Mountain/Blowsand Mountains (Sand Mountain sericanscarab, Hardy’s aegialian scarab)
2. Crescent Dunes (Crescent Dunes aegialian scarab, CrescentDunes serican scarab)
3. Big Dune/Lava Dune (Giuliani’s dune, large aegialian scarab)

Sanddunes in the Great Basin are favorite areas for off-road vehicle (ORV)recreation, often attracting thousands of riders on a single weekend. ORV use canreduce or eliminate beetle populations by destroying dune vegetation anddisturbing intact dunes. ORV users often ignore restrictions to protectimportant dune habitat, including at Sand Mountain, where the Sand Mountainserican scarab and Hardy’s aegialian scarab occur.

TheFish and Wildlife Service will now initiate 12-month status reviews todetermine if listing the four scarabs that the agency found warranted furtherreview should be listed as “threatened” or “endangered” under the EndangeredSpecies Act.