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

Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Imperiled Mouse Gains Protections Along 169 Miles of Streams and Rivers

Designation of Critical Habitat Long Overdue
Contact: Bryan Bird (505) 699-4719 bbird@wildearthguardians.org

ALBUQUERQUE,N.M.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today protected 13,973 acres of ‘criticalhabitat’ for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse along 169.3 miles of streams,ditches and canals in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. WildEarth Guardiansfiled suit in 2010 over the Service’s failure to protect the imperiled mouse. TheService then listed the mouse as ‘endangered’ under the Endangered Species Actin June 2014, but failed to simultaneously designate critical habitat.

“Thecritical habitat designation falls dangerously short. The meadow jumping mouseis an indicator of the health of our rivers and streams; we should beprotecting every mile of potential mouse habitat,” said Bryan Bird, Wild PlacesProgram Director for WildEarth Guardians. “Just 1% of all our public lands arerivers and streams; they deserve protection.”

The U.S. Fish andWildlife Service finalized protections for the New Mexico meadow jumping mouseon June 10, 2014 as a result of a historic multi-species settlement agreementwith Guardians that requires the Service to make listing and critical habitatdeterminations for 251 candidate species by the end of fiscal year 2016. The final habitat designationcomes nearly two years after the listing.

“Whilewe are pleased to see some habitat protected, the nearly two year delay is deeplyconcerning,” said Bird. “Animals teetering on the brinkof extinction need timely and inclusive habitat protections.”

Themeadow jumping mouse lives only within feet of perennial streams with enoughlush, dense streamside vegetation to provide food and shelter. The jumpingmouse has the longest known hibernation period of any animal: eight to ninemonths per year. This long hibernation period makes suitable habitat even morecritical for the jumping mouse because they must eat enough food in the threeto four months they are active to last the full year.

Livestock grazing in its streamside habitatthreatens the meadow jumping mouse. Over-grazingdestroys the streamside riparian and wet meadow habitat on which the meadowjumping mice depend. Native to Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, meadow jumpingmice populations shrunk by at least 76% in the last 15 years and mice are oftenfound only in areas actively protected from grazing.

WildEarthGuardians initiated legal proceedings in October 2014 to defend the jumpingmouse in New Mexico from threats posed by livestock grazing. The suitchallenges the Forest Service’s allowance of livestock grazing that is destroyingstreamside habitat where the mouse lives, breeds and raises its young. The livestockgrazing is violating the Endangered Species Act.

“The most important thingwe can do to protect the jumping mouse and the ecosystems they call home is toreign in grazing on public lands,” said Bird.

Ranchersholding permits to graze on national forest land have also sued the ForestService in an effort to remove the fences that protect the jumping mouse. Afederal court denied their motion for a restraining order and allowed thefences to remain in place, finding that the ranchers’ allegations of harm totheir business were exaggerated.

Thejumping mouse was first recognized as being in need of federal protection in1985. It was placed on the candidate waiting list for protection in 1991 andagain in 2007. Listingspecies under the Endangered Species Act is a proven effective safety net: morethan 99 percent of plants and animals listed persist today. Scientists estimatethat 227 species would have gone extinct by 2006 if not for ESA listing. Thelaw is especially important as a bulwark against the current extinction crisis:plants and animals are disappearing at a rate much higher than the natural rateof extinction due to human activities.

photo credit: J.N. Stewart, Flickr/Creative Commons