Wolverine may be listed as threatened
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February 2, 2013 |
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced
Friday, in response to a court-ordered deadline,
that it is seeking information from the
scientific community and the public on a
proposal to protect the North American wolverine
as a threatened species under the Endangered
Species Act.
The Service is also seeking comment on two
proposed special rules designed to facilitate
management and recovery of the species should it
receive protection.
An estimated 250 to 300 wolverines now occur in
the lower 48 states, where the species has
rebounded after broad-scale predator trapping
and poisoning programs led to its near
extinction in the early 1900s. This was in part
due to the states protecting the species from
unregulated trapping.
Currently, wolverines occur within the North
Cascades Range in Washington and the Northern
Rockies of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and a small
portion of Oregon (Wallowa Range).
Populations once existed in the Sierra Nevada of
California and the southern Rocky Mountains in
the states of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
Currently, one individual male wolverine is
known to inhabit the Sierra Nevada and one male
wolverine resides in the southern Rocky
Mountains. Both are recent migrants to these
areas.
Extensive climate modeling indicates that the
wolverine’s snowpack habitat will be greatly
reduced and fragmented in the coming years due
to climate warming, thereby threatening the
species with extinction. Wolverines are
dependent on areas in high mountains, near the
tree-line, where conditions are cold year-round
and snow cover persists well into the month of
May.
The Service does not consider most activities
occurring within the high elevation habitat of
the wolverine, including snowmobiling and
backcountry skiing, and land management
activities like timber harvesting and
infrastructure development, to constitute
significant threats to the wolverine. As a
result, the Service is proposing a special rule
under Section 4(d) of the ESA that, should the
species be listed, would allow these types of
activities to continue.
“This proposal would give us the flexibility to
tailor the protections for the wolverine
provided by the ESA to only those things that
are necessary,” said Noreen Walsh, director of
the Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region.
“Scientific evidence suggests that a warming
climate will greatly reduce the wolverine’s
snowpack habitat. We look forward to hearing
from our state and local partners and members of
the public and scientific community on these
proposals as we work to ensure the continued
recovery of the species.”
Under the proposed 4(d) rule, take of wolverines
associated with hunting and trapping would be
prohibited if the species is listed. The Service
is seeking input on the appropriateness of
prohibiting incidental take of wolverine in the
course of legal trapping activities directed at
other species.
In support of ongoing federal and state agencies
to protect the wolverine from extinction, the
Service is simultaneously proposing a special
rule under Section 10(j) of the ESA to
facilitate potential reintroduction of the
species its historical range in Colorado. The
reintroduction effort, which is still under
consideration, would be led by the Colorado
Department of Parks and Wildlife.
Most wolverine habitat in the contiguous U.S. –
more than 90 percent – is located on
federally-owned land, with the remainder being
state, private or tribally owned.
If the proposed listing rule is finalized, the
Service will add the wolverine to the Federal
List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The
listing would protect the wolverine as a
threatened species in the contiguous (or lower
48) states as a distinct population segment
under the ESA. A DPS is a portion of a
vertebrate species that is geographically
discrete from the rest of its kind and also is
significant to its survival.
The Service committed to publishing the proposed
listing for the North American wolverine in
Fiscal Year 2013 as part of the Service’s
efforts to implement a court-approved work plan
that resolves a series of lawsuits concerning
the agency’s ESA listing duties. The intent of
the agreement is to significantly reduce
litigation and allow the agency to focus its
resources on the species most in need of the
ESA's protections.
The Service will open a 90-day comment period
beginning Feb. 4, to allow the public and
stakeholders an opportunity to provide
information or comments regarding the proposed
listing and 4(d) rule and the proposed 10(j)
rule. A draft Recovery Outline will also be
available for comments.
During that time, the agency will also seek peer
review of the proposed listing and proposed
rules from the scientific community. Comments
will be accepted until May 6.
For more information about wolverine
conservation, copies of the proposals, and
details on public meetings and hearings, visit
the Service’s web site at
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolverine.
If finalized, the move will focus resources on
wolverine recovery that will include helping the
species survive the impacts of climate change,
according to Earthjustice and Defenders of
Wildlife, organizations that have been pushing
for the listing for more than a decade.
“This proposal at long last gives the wolverine
a fighting chance of survival in the lower 48
states,” said Earthjustice attorney Timothy
Preso. “The most immediate need is to stop the
threats to the species that we can control,
including direct killing of wolverines through
trapping.”
In Montana, for instance, the state allowed five
wolverines to be trapped during winter seasons
until a district court judge issued a
restraining order in November blocking the
trapping season the day before it was to begin.
According to Earthjustice, wolverines are
becoming increasingly isolated in their mountain
strongholds.
“For wolverines to survive over the long run,
they need to be able to reclaim habitat they
once occupied,” said Kylie Paul, Rockies and
Plains representative for Defenders of Wildlife.
“Federal protection should provide resources to
help ensure that wolverine populations can
expand, remain connected, and are resilient
enough to overcome the looming impacts of
climate change as well as other threats.”
Female wolverines use deep snow that persists
through mid-spring for dens to raise their
young. Researchers estimate that the extent of
areas with persistent spring snowpack are likely
to recede 33 percent by 2045 and 63 percent by
2099.
“We see the impacts of a changing climate all
around us,” said Chris Colligan of the Greater
Yellowstone Coalition. “The best buffer against
these species impacts are large intact
ecosystems and we see the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem as being a stronghold for wolverines.” |
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