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

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Lynx in Southern Rockies Face Foreclosure

Government leaves habitat for rare cats in Colorado unprotected
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

DENVER – This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its final critical habitat designation for the Canada lynx, which the agency designated as a threatened species in 2000. Although the agency expanded the protected habitat for lynx from 1,841 square miles to roughly 39,000 square miles, the new designation excludes critical habitat protections for lynx in the Southern Rocky Mountains.

“Lynx need wild places,” said Rob Edward of WildEarth Guardians. “This decision is a unilateral foreclosure on the places lynx in Colorado call home.” Despite the fact that wildlife officials in Colorado have successfully reintroduced lynx into the southwestern part of the state, Edward indicated that the decision removes incentives for the government to take a hard look at projects, such as logging or energy development, that would degrade or fragment lynx habitat.

The final rule, published in the Federal Register, cites the uncertain future of Colorado’s lynx population as grounds to omit all habitat in the Southern Rockies from the designation, calling habitat in the state “marginal” and therefore “not essential to the conservation of species.”

“The government is writing off Colorado’s lynx before they’ve even had a chance to prove themselves,” said Edward.

At present, lynx habitat in the Southern Rockies is protected only by the Forest Service’s Southern Rockies Lynx Management Direction, which includes special rules for lynx habitat on the National Forests in Colorado and southern Wyoming. In December 2008, WildEarth Guardians, and three other conservation organizations appealed the amendment’s weakened standards and guidelines.

“It’s time for the government to take its stewardship of lynx in the Southern Rocky Mountains seriously,” said Edward. “These rare cats can make it in Colorado, if we don’t foreclose on their habitat.”