To the FWGNA group:
Most of you will probably recall my series of messages last year
regarding the Idaho springsnail controversy - a tangle of competing
proposals to delist the federally endangered "Pyrgulopsis idahoensis," or to keep P. idahoensis on the list and add several other very similar Pyrgulopsis
populations in Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Links to the
FWGNA archives are provided below if you'd like to refresh your memory.
Now it would appear that a decision is finally at hand. This past
Thursday, Sept 28, the US Fish & Wildlife Service published in the
Federal Register a "Notice of two 12-month petition findings and a
proposed rule to delist the Idaho springsnail." A press release
was simultaneously issued from the Snake River Office bearing this
headline: "Protection Not Warranted for Four Springsnail
Species." See below.
I'd guess this pretty much settles the matter. Ahead is yet one
more comment period, and a final decision by Interior Secretary Dirk
Kempthorne, who (ironically) used to be Governor of Idaho. But in
all honesty, the Conservation Community has already spent way too much
time on this, "the largest single population of freshwater snails ever
documented." North America is home to scores of other freshwater
gastropod species much more deserving of protection than the Idaho
springsnail. Let's move on.
Speaking of which, the website of the Snake River FWS Office features
two other news releases of interest - one having to do with the (much
more endangered!) Pyrgulopsis bruneauensis and the other regarding the
(undescribed) "Banbury Springs Lanx." If anybody on this list has
additional information regarding either of these two species, contact
the FWS.
And keep in touch!
Rob
Previous essays on this subject:
Idaho Springsnail Showdown (Archives 28Apr05)
Idaho Springsnail Panel Report (Archives 23Dec05)
When Pigs Fly in Idaho (Archives 30Jan06)
-------------------------
NEWS RELEASE
SNAKE RIVER FISH AND WILDLIFE OFFICE
1387 S. Vinnell Way, Room 368 • Boise, Idaho 83709
http://IdahoES.fws.gov
September 28, 2006
Contact: Meggan Laxalt Mackey
PROTECTION NOT WARRANTED FOR FOUR SPRINGSNAIL SPECIES
Public Comments Accepted through November 27, 2006
on Service’s Proposal to Delist Idaho Springsnail
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the Idaho
springsnail, currently listed as endangered under the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), has been found to be the same species as three other
groups of freshwater springsnails, none of which warrants protection
under the ESA. The Service therefore today published a proposal in the
Federal Register to remove the Idaho springsnail from the Federal list
of threatened and endangered species.
This decision is based on the new taxonomic information and other
available scientific information that resulted in four groups of
springsnails being classified as one species, Pyrgulopsis robusta. The
four groups of springsnails are the Idaho springsnail that inhabits
Idaho’s Snake River, the Harney Lake springsnail in southeastern
Oregon, the Jackson Lake springsnail in western Wyoming, and the
Columbia springsnail from the lower Columbia River between Oregon and
Washington.
“The 1992 listing of the Idaho springsnail as endangered was
based on the best information available at that time on the species and
the threats it faced,” said Ren Lohoefener, director of the Fish
and Wildlife Service’s Pacific region. “New scientific
information became available that prompted the Service to closely
examine the status and classification of the species and other closely
related springsnails. The examination of all the information currently
available led us quite clearly to this decision.”
Comments from all interested parties regarding the proposal to delist
the Idaho springsnail will be accepted by the Service until close of
business November 27, 2006. Requests for public hearings must be
received on or before November 13, 2006. Comments may be submitted by
e-mail to: fw1srbocomment@fws.gov, by fax to 208-378-5262, or by mail
or hand-delivery to the Service’s Snake River Fish and Wildlife
Office at 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, Idaho 83709. Please include
the title “ISS RIN1018-AU66” in the subject line.
The Service conducted a comprehensive 12-month review of the four
groups of springsnails. The Service’s review was prompted by two
separate petitions concerning the four springsnails: one petition by
the Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation and the Idaho
Power Company seeking the delisting of the Idaho springsnail, and
another from a group of academics and environmental organizations
requesting the listing of all four springsnail populations.
The Service also included in this process a five-year review of the
Idaho springsnail, a process required by the ESA for all listed species
to determine whether the species is properly classified. The five-year
review of the Idaho springsnail is available from the FWS Pacific Region website.
Pyrgulopsis robusta is a small (4-6mm) freshwater snail species. It may
be found in various habitats from small springs and spring-fed creeks
to reservoirs and large river systems. The snails feed primarily on
algae, bacteria, fungi, diatoms (small plants), and protozoa (small
animals) on the surface of rocks or gravel in the water.
The Service’s findings on the two petitions and the proposed rule
to delist the Idaho springsnail from the Federal List of Threatened and
Endangered Wildlife are available as PDF downloads.
- FWS -
Return ... to the FWGNA