Colorado Division of Wildlife biologists reported last week that they didn't find any new lynx kittens this year.  Last year saw a serious dip in lynx reproduction as well, down to 11 from 50 in 2005, although it included the first second generation lynx reproduction (lynx babies growing up to have their own lynx babies).  One theory is that the lack of reproduction this year is related to a drop in the number of snowshoe hares, an important source of prey for the lynx.  This might make sense, but some of the research found that lynx in the Southern Rockies are far less reliant on snowshoe hare than lynx in the northern part of the range, so a decline in hares shouldn't necessarily mean trouble for lynx.  If a declining prey base is causing the drop in reproduction, it will only compound the critical long-term lynx recovery need:  protecting key lynx habitat.  By all appearances, Governor Owens and his administration were allergic to even mentioning the word "habitat," much less acknowledging its importance, but the science clearly points to the need for sufficient high quality habitat if the lynx is to thrive in Colorado over the long term.  Here in Colorado, most lynx habitat is on Forest Service land, and the Forest Service (which answers to the Bush administration) has been pretty hostile to protecting lynx habitat.  Perhaps their most colorful effort to undermine lynx recovery was when David Tenny, a Bush administration political appointee, ordered the elimination of lynx protections on the White River National Forest.  Perhaps their most destructive effort is a Forest Service-supported proposal for a new 10,000-person city along the Continental Divide near Wolf Creek Pass (in the middle of a critical lynx movement corridor).  And the Forest Service is now years overdue on a promised lynx management plan for the region (and their draft plan, introduced in 2005, was roundly criticized because of its gaping loopholes).  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refusal to identify key habitat in Colorado isn't helping, nor is their ongoing refusal even to adopt a recovery plan providing the Colorado Division of Wildlife with a road map to recovery and eventual removal from the Endangered Species list.  We are hopeful that the new Governor and his new natural resources deputy, Harris Sherman, will take more seriously the biological needs of the lynx.  With strong leadership from the state, we really can recover this magnificent part of Colorado's natural heritage.