FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Colorado Wildlife Commission Stalls On Lynx Release

Meeker, Colorado—Four Colorado conservation groups today expressed concern about the Colorado Wildlife Commission's unwillingness to commit to augmenting the state's flagging lynx population. At its meeting in Meeker, Colorado, the Commission decided this afternoon to hold off on approving additional lynx releases pending ongoing negotiations between the state and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the level of protection lynx in Colorado will have. The groups, Sinapu (Boulder), Center for Native Ecosystems (Paonia), San Juan Citizens Alliance (Durango), and Colorado Wild (Durango) contend that either weakened protections or abandoning the lynx recovery effort at this point could be a death sentence for lynx in Colorado.

"The vast majority of Coloradans support the lynx program," said Mark Pearson, Executive Director of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. "The Wildlife Commission's hesitation is baffling." Pearson noted that, in a recent poll, 79% of Coloradans expressed support for the state's lynx recovery program.

In May, Division of Wildlife biologists recommended that the Wildlife Commission release an additional 50 lynx annually for the next three years and that an additional 10 to 12 lynx be released in each of the two following years. They believe that the newly released Colorado lynx population will not survive without the release of additional individuals. The current low densities appear to be contributing to a complete lack of reproduction.

"If the Wildlife Commission doesn't approve additional releases, it will be ignoring the recommendations of its own biologists, its best scientific experts," said Jacob Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Native Ecosystems. "Without additional releases, lynx appear headed for extinction in Colorado."

The Wildlife Commission's hesitation to approve additional lynx releases is based on the view that the lynx's current federal status (as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act) is excessively restrictive. Greg Walcher, Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, has asked the federal government to reclassify lynx in Colorado as an "experimental-nonessential population" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This move would dramatically reduce the limited protection the lynx now enjoys, allowing more lynx to be killed and allowing increased habitat destruction.

"The Wildlife Commission and Director Walcher are excessively concerned about a non-existent problem," noted Rocky Smith, Conservation Director for Colorado Wild. "The 20-pound lynx doesn't harm people and is no threat to livestock."

On May 3rd at the Wildlife Commission hearing and on Colorado Public Radio's June 13 th airing of Colorado Matters, Director Walcher claimed that the lynx's current "threatened" status will impede future development opportunities that are being considered by Vail Associates. "Director Walcher claims that current protections for lynx are excessive," said Wendy Keefover-Ring, Sinapu's Director of Carnivore Protection. "This claim is absurd. The presence of lynx has not stopped a single timber sale, ski area expansion, grazing permit, or anything else in the state." Keefover-Ring points to the destruction of prime lynx habitat in a recent expansion at Vail as an example.

The conservation groups point out that use of the "experimental non-essential" designation is both unnecessary and illegal. "The Endangered Species Act, especially for species with only a 'threatened' designation, is extremely flexible," explained Jacob Smith of Center for Native Ecosystems. "Removing the limited protections now enjoyed by the lynx in Colorado would probably mean ensuring that the recovery program fails."

"The lynx is an important part of old growth forests and our natural heritage," said Rocky Smith of Colorado Wild. "We owe it to future generations to save this magnificent forest creature."

For more information about any of the organizations, please visit www.nativeecosystems.org, www.sinapu.org, www.sanjuancitizens.org, and www.coloradowild.org.

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