Groups demand bull trout recovery plan
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April 7, 2014 |
Citing the fish stock’s “precarious state,”
Friends of the Wild Swan and Alliance for the
Wild Rockies filed a legal complaint Tuesday in
federal court in Portland, Oregon, faulting the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to
complete recovery plans for bull trout as
required under the Endangered Species Act.
Bull trout were once found in about 60 percent
of the Columbia River Basin, but today, they
occur in less than half of their historic range,
with scattered populations in portions of
Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and Montana,
according to the USFWS.
A few remain in the Kootenai River and have been
the subject of much study by Idaho Fish & Game
and the Kootenai Tribe, which has been working
for years to restore the species, along with the
Kootenai River white sturgeon and other species
indigenous to the river.
In the Klamath River Basin, bull trout occur in
21 percent of their historic range. They no
longer exist in California.
Bull trout were listed as a threatened species
throughout their range, which includes parts of
five states, in 1999 by the USFWS.
“Since that time, bull trout populations have
remained in a precarious state, as the
human-caused threats that led to their listing
continue to exist or have even accelerated,
according to a an press release issued Wednesday
by the conservation groups. These plans are very
important,” said Arlene Montgomery, program
director of Friends of the Wild Swan. “They
provide a road map by identifying the actions
that are needed to address threats in each core
watershed to recover bull trout.”
“You can’t bring endangered species back from
the brink of extinction without a plan,” said
Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance
for the Wild Rockies. “These plans provide a
road map to recovery by identifying the actions
that are needed to realistically address threats
to bull trout. And since the law requires them,
we have no choice but to go to court to force
the Fish and Wildlife Service to follow the
law.”
“The Endangered Species Act requires a recovery
plan for listed species,” Garrity said. “Each
recovery plan must identify: (1) site-specific
actions that may be necessary for the
conservation and survival of the species, (2)
objective, measurable criteria which, when met,
would result in the specie’s delisting, and (3)
estimates of the time and cost required to
achieve the plan’s goals.”
USFWS prepared draft recovery plans in 2002 for
the Columbia Basin (Montana, Idaho, Oregon and
Washington) and Klamath (Oregon) bull trout
populations and in 2004 for the St. Mary
(Montana), coastal Puget Sound (Washington) and
Jarbidge (Nevada) populations.
However, over a decade later those plans have
yet to be finalized.
“But instead of completing this important tool,
the Service has allowed the plans to languish
for 12 to 14 years while bull trout struggle to
survive,” Garrity said. “We notified the agency
a year ago that we intended to file a lawsuit if
the recovery plans weren’t completed in a timely
manner.
“The Service told us they would have new draft
recovery plans completed by Jan. 30, 2014. To
make a long story short, that didn’t happen,
even though we’ve given them another three
months past the agency’s own deadline.”
“… this process has been subject to repeated
delays and now appears hopelessly stalled,”
according to the complaint filed April 1 in
Oregon’s U.S. District Court.
“Accordingly, the Plaintiffs have commenced this
action to respectfully request that the Court
order the Defendants to comply with their
obligations under the ESA In particular, the
Plaintiffs request a declaratory judgment that
the Defendants' delay in developing and
implementing a final bull trout recovery plan
constitutes a violation of the ESA, or,
alternatively, of the Administrative Procedures
Act (the "APA")
“The Plaintiffs further request a mandatory
injunction requiring the Defendants to promptly
develop and implement a draft and then final
recovery plan for the bull trout, and order that
the Defendants publish a draft recovery plan
within 90 days of the Court's Order,” the
complaint says.
Compared to other salmonids, bull trout have
specific habitat requirements that include:
-- very cold, clean water with little fine sediment in the stream
bottom,
-- complex streams with intact riparian vegetation that provide
shade, woody debris, bank stability and deep
pools, and
-- connected watersheds that allow fish to migrate from spawning
streams to larger rivers, lakes or the ocean.
Human activities such as logging, road
construction, dams, mining, grazing and urban
development have negatively impacted bull trout
habitat, causing widespread and significant
population declines and local extirpations.
In addition, overfishing and the introduction of
exotic species have contributed to the ongoing
demise of the species.
“Bull trout can’t wait, they need recovery plans
now,” said Garrity. “Their very survival depends
on it and that’s what has once again forced our
hand to make the agency to follow the law and
ensure that bull trout remain viable for future
generations.” |
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