FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Critical Habitat Designation for Canada Lynx Excludes Colorado

Reintroduction program in Colorado left in cold

Although the Fish and Wildlife Service's new critical habitat designation greatly expands habitat protections for the threatened Canada lynx in much of its former range throughout America, it still excludes Colorado, where a reintroduction program is in full swing. The new habitat protections are intended to correct inappropriate manipulation of scientific findings by disgraced Bush appointee Julie MacDonald.

Canada lynx in Colorado

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed a revision to the critical habitat designation for the Canada lynx, which was recognized as a threatened species in the lower 48 United States in 2000.  Although the revision expands the proposed critical habitat over an earlier 2006 designation and includes an expansion in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, it does not include any habitat protections for lynx in Colorado.

“Today’s proposed revision echoes the slap in the face that the federal government gave to Colorado’s reintroduction efforts in 2006,” said Josh Pollock, Conservation Director for Center for Native Ecosystems, a Denver-based conservation organization.

In the proposed rule published today in the Federal Register, the Fish and Wildlife Service cited the uncertain future of Colorado’s lynx population as reason to omit all Colorado habitat from the designation, saying "[a]lthough Colorado’s reintroduction effort is an important step toward the recovery of lynx, we are not proposing revised critical habitat in the Southern Rockies because of the current uncertainty that a self-sustaining lynx population will become established."

“Critical habitat is about recovery,” said Pollock.  “The whole point of critical habitat in Colorado and the Southern Rockies more generally should be to ensure that lynx can survive and thrive here for the long-term.  The state and many others have put so much effort into establishing lynx on the ground here.”

The proposed rule was issued in response to a court order issued in 2007, after the Fish and Wildlife Service admitted that disgraced Fish and Wildlife Service official Julie MacDonald inappropriately interfered in the original lynx critical habitat designation. MacDonald also inappropriately influenced other endangered species decisions affecting the Southern Rockies region, including blocking Endangered Species Act protections for the greater sage grouse and white-tailed prairie dog.

The proposed rule would expand the critical habitat designated for lynx in part by including federal lands previously omitted based on a conservation assessment and strategy adopted by several federal land management agencies and the Fish and Wildlife Service.  For the original designation, this Lynx Conservation Assessment and Strategy (LCAS) was used to justify designating only 2,000 square miles of federal land, mostly in National Parks.  Today’s proposal would expand this figure to 25,050 square miles.

“We’re pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service is expanding its designations of critical habitat into western Wyoming, including key wildlife areas like the Mount Leidy Highlands and the Wyoming range,” said Duane Short, Wild Species Program Director, for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “But if the Fish and Wildlife Service is to recover the lynx throughout its historic range, then they need to designate critical habitat in Colorado and Southern Wyoming where lynx have been reintroduced and are currently breeding. To ensure the Southern Rockies lynx population is not weakened due to inbreeding, southern populations must have access to populations to the north.”

It is essential that critical habitat is designated in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, according to Short. Recognizing the importance of allowing Wyoming and Colorado lynx populations to connect, the Forest Service has already designated lynx habitats and corridors in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.

Similar to Colorado, no critical habitat was proposed in New Mexico, despite documentation that lynx released in Colorado have spread into New Mexico and other neighboring states.  The Service has refused to recognize lynx as a species in New Mexico and therefore has failed to consult with land management agencies on impacts to lynx there.  Last year, Center for Native Ecosystems joined Wild Earth Guardians and others in petitioning the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the lynx in New Mexico.

###