FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Utahans and Coloradans Warn Government that Endangered Wildflower Must Be Protected

Agency Illegally Ignored Science in Denying Protections

Today Center for Native Ecosystems, Utah Native Plant Society, Colorado Native Plant Society, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a Notice of Intent to Sue the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect Graham's penstemon under the Endangered Species Act despite the fact that the best available science indicates that this wildflower found only in the Uinta Basin of Utah and Colorado is threatened by oil and gas drilling.

Graham's penstemon. Photo by Susan Meyer.

Today citizens in Utah and Colorado warned the Secretary of Interior and the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that Graham’s penstemon requires Endangered Species Act protection, and that a lawsuit will follow unless the Service protects this rare wildflower in the next two months.

In January 2006, the Service proposed to add Graham’s penstemon to the endangered species list.  Instead of finalizing protections, in December 2006 the Service suddenly reversed course and claimed that threats were no longer present.

“The claim that new scientific information underpins the decision to withdraw listing of Graham’s penstemon as Threatened is inaccurate,” stated Dr. Vincent Tepedino.  “No such evidence exists.”  Dr. Tepedino, a recently retired Utah State University professor, attempted to investigate the penstemon’s pollination biology, but found almost no flowering plants and no seed production during 2004 and 2005.  He is a coauthor to the Lewinsohn et al. (2005) report cited in the Service’s December reversal.

This reversal was similar to many others made by the Service in recent years.  On March 23^rd, the Inspector General for the Department of Interior issued a report detailing chronic interference in endangered species decisionmaking by political appointee Julie MacDonald.  The report stated, “we confirmed that MacDonald has been heavily involved with editing, commenting on, and reshaping the Endangered Species Program’s scientific reports from the field.  MacDonald admitted that her degree is in civil engineering and that she has no formal educational background in natural sciences, such as biology” (p. 2).  House Natural Resources Committee Chair Nick Rahall (D-WV) has pledged to hold hearings investigating political interference and suppression of science in endangered species decisions made by the Service.  The Endangered Species Act specifically requires that endangered species listing decisions be based solely on the best available science.

“The scientific integrity of the country’s endangered species program is at stake now,” said Erin Robertson, Senior Staff Biologist for Center for Native Ecosystems.  “Secretary Kempthorne must ensure that threatened wildflowers like Graham’s penstemon have a real shot at avoiding extinction.”

Graham’s penstemon, a member of the snapdragon family with brilliant lavender-pink flowers, only inhabits oil shale outcrops in the Uinta Basin of northeastern Utah and adjacent Colorado.  The penstemon was first considered for Endangered Species Act protection in 1975, when the Smithsonian drafted the first list of plants to be protected under the Act.  After nearly 30 years without action, and with threats mounting, conservation groups formally petitioned the Service to protect the penstemon in 2002.

"This is one of the rarest and most threatened plant species in Utah,” said Tony Frates with the Utah Native Plant Society.  “The failure to list this species in 2006 was a result of politics rather than science."

The Service admitted in the December reversal that 88% of the penstemon’s populations are in areas where active oil and gas exploration is already taking place.  It also acknowledged that all three of the formal scientific reviewers of the Service’s January 2006 proposal to protect the penstemon “felt that our proposed rule justified listing” (71 Fed. Reg. 76026 (Dec. 19, 2006)). 

The January 2006 listing proposal cited the following threats:  “Habitat destruction and degradation as a consequence of energy development throughout the species’ range pose a serious threat to long-term viability.  Habitat loss and fragmentation also will exacerbate threats arising from very low natural population numbers and restricted distribution; natural phenomena such as drought and wildlife grazing; livestock grazing; and horticultural collection” (71 Fed. Reg. 3164 (Jan. 19, 2006)).

"Graham’s penstemon is very rare in Colorado,” said Dave Anderson with the Colorado Native Plant Society, “and it is threatened by oil and gas drilling.  We believe it deserves a fair chance, and that its merits as an endangered species should be reevaluated." 

The Endangered Species Act requires that citizens provide notice to the government 60 days before they intend to sue regarding violations of the Act.  The Notice of Intent to Sue was filed today by Center for Native Ecosystems, Utah Native Plant Society, Colorado Native Plant Society, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.  The Interior Department could avoid a lawsuit by reinstating the proposal to protect the penstemon and moving forward with finalizing the protections.

The Inspector General’s report is available at:

http://www.eswr.com/latest/307/igreport_juliemacdonald.pdf

For a high-resolution photo of Graham’s penstemon, a copy of the 2002 Endangered Species Act listing petition, the Service’s January 2006 proposal to protect the penstemon, or the December 2006 reversal, please visit:

http://www.nativeecosystems.org/species/grahams-penstemon/

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