Glamis: USFWS leaves PMV on ESA list

[Crowdog]

Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office
Hidden Valley Road
Carlsbad, California 92009
Phone: 760/431-9440
Fax: 760/431-9624

http://carlsbad.fws.gov
(SC)
04-057

Contact: Jane Hendron, Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office ? 760/431-9440
ext. 205


For Release: June 3, 2004

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE DETERMINES
PEIRSON'S MILK-VETCH SHOULD REMAIN PROTECTED


Carlsbad, Calif. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it
has completed a status review of Peirson's milk-vetch. The Service has
concluded the plant should remain listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The status review was undertaken after the Service determined that a
petition to remove Peirson's milk-vetch (Astragalus magdalenae var.
peirsonii) from Endangered Species Act protection provided substantial
information.

After reviewing all of the available information about Peirson's
milk-vetch, the Service concluded that it remains threatened by habitat
destruction and modification from off-highway vehicle use; ongoing
predation by bruchid beetles; the inadequacy of existing regulatory
protections; and susceptibility to rangewide population declines from
natural and manmade factors, including vandalism and drought.

During the status review the Service opened a 60-day comment period to
accept public information and data about the plant and its habitat. A group
of experts was also contacted to provide peer review of the information in
the petition.

"Based on a thorough review of all information and data, and peer review
comments, the Service concluded that Peirson's milk-vetch should remain
listed as threatened under the Act," said Steve Thompson, Manager of the
Service's California-Nevada Operations Office.

The petition to remove Peirson's milk-vetch from the Federal list of
threatened and endangered species was submitted to the Service in October
2001 by representatives of the law firm Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves &
Savitch, on behalf of the American Sand Association, San Diego Off-Road
Coalition, and the Off-Road Business Association.

Petitioners cited several reasons why the plant should be removed from
protection under the Act, including assertions that:

· data used to list the species were in error,
· new information indicates healthy populations of the plant are found
throughout the Algodones Dunes, and
· the listing did not take into account conservation measures
associated with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act.

Peirson's milk-vetch, a member of the pea family, grows from 8 to 27
inches tall and has pale purple flowers. In the United States, the plant is
found only in portions of the Algodones Dunes, a southern California sand
dune formation that is about 40 miles long, running from the northwest to
the southeast, and approximately 5 to 8 miles wide. Within the dunes, the
plant is found in scattered occurrences based on the slope of the dunes,
patterns of annual rainfall, and other habitat factors.

The Service listed Peirson's milk-vetch as a Federally threatened
species in 1998 due to habitat degradation, impacts associated with
off-road vehicles, and inadequate regulations to conserve the plant.

Peirson's milk-vetch germination is closely linked to annual rainfall
patterns within the Algodones Dunes. The plant generally produces flowers
and sets seed between late fall and May. This is also the time of year
when the dunes are most heavily visited by off-road vehicle users. Data
indicate that the ongoing, annual co-occurrence of heavy off-road vehicle
use during Peirson's milk-vetch germination/seed production season is
affecting the long-term viability of the plant.

The Service will continue working with the Bureau of Land Management on
issues relating to conservation of Peirson's milk-vetch within the Imperial
Sand Dunes Recreation Area. Currently, the Service is reviewing its
biological opinion on the BLM's Recreation Area Management Plan and the
effect the plan has on Peirson's milk-vetch.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small
wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national
fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws,
administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife
habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their
conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program,
which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on
fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.

[LilDacktyle]

whats all this mean?
im puzzeled:confused:

[Crowdog]

Originally posted by LilDacktyle
whats all this mean?
im puzzeled:confused:

It means the current closure will stay in effect to protect a plant that USFWS says needs protection.

The Endangered Species Act is broken and must be reformed.....

[Crowdog]

Ruling protects rare desert plant

DISAPPOINTED: The decision could keep parts of Imperial Sand Dunes closed to off-roaders.


01:18 AM PDT on Friday, June 4, 2004



By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise

In a setback for off-roaders, federal wildlife officials on Thursday said a plant that led to closures of the desert's most popular dunes should remain protected under the nation's Endangered Species Act.

"I'm extremely disappointed that the ruling went the way it did," said Grant George of Rancho Cucamonga, president of the American Sand Association, a 17,000-member group.

In their petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the association and other off-roading groups sought to prove the Peirson's milk-vetch, a spindly member of the pea family that bears purple blossoms, was in fact flourishing at the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, about 100 miles southeast of Palm Springs. The milk-vetch grows on the towering, white dunes that stretch from the Mexican border 40 miles north and was listed as a threatened species in 1998.

In settlement agreements four years ago with environmental groups, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management closed large portions of the dunes to protect the plant's habitat. Although the BLM has proposed to reopen those closures, officials have made no final decision yet, said Doran Sanchez, a BLM spokesman.

The wildlife agency, in announcing its decision, said the plant still remains threatened by off-roading, predation by beetles and is susceptible to large-scale population losses because of vandalism and drought, said Jane Hendron, an agency spokeswoman.

Environmentalists welcomed the decision.

"There really should have never been any doubt," said Daniel Patterson, desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity in Idyllwild. "There's no solid scientific evidence that this wildlife species is anything but endangered."

Hendron said that although a study commissioned by the off-road groups showed 71,000 plants at the dunes, only five of those plants were older than one season.

"There is a significant difference based on research of its seed-producing ability between a plant in its first year and plants older than its first season," she said.

The fruit in first-year plants contain about five seeds, compared with 171 seeds in plants that survive into a second fruit-producing season, she said.

Although officials at the BLM and the wildlife agency said the decision will not affect management of the dunes, George said he feared it would.

"I see it as the mechanism to keep the dunes closed," he said, "and there's no justification for it."

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_dunes04.57a60.html

[Crowdog]

AP picked up the story today.....

Peirson's milk-vetch to remain on endangered species list

ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:51 p.m. June 4, 2004

SAN DIEGO – The Peirson's milk-vetch, a rare desert plant, will remain on a list of endangered and threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in denying a petition by off-road enthusiasts who wanted more room to ride.

After a review, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded Thursday that the milk-vetch remains threatened by habitat destruction and off-road vehicles, among other factors.

The small, broom-like plant is keeping dune riders out of an area 3½ times the size of Manhattan in California's Imperial Valley, the only place where the plant is found in the United States. The dunes in southeastern California are one of the most popular recreation areas in the nation, attracting 1 million visitors each year.

Lawyers for the American Sand Association, the San Diego Off-Road Coalition and the Off-Road Business Association petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2001 to remove the plant from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.

The groups claimed the Fish and Wildlife Service relied on erroneous data to list the plant and new information shows healthy milk-vetch populations throughout the dunes.

The Peirson's milk-vetch was listed in 1998 as a threatened species.

[Crowdog]

Feds: Milk-vetch needs protection, will stay on list

By MARC SCHANZ, Staff Writer

Saturday, June 5, 2004 10:23 PM PDT

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a review of the controversial Peirson's milk-vetch plant and has declined to remove the species from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.

The decision, released in a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday, enflamed the coalition of off-road recreation enthusiasts that has been fighting to roll back plant-related closures of the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, which it claims are threatening access to public lands for legitimate use.

"This ruling is outrageous, I still haven't calmed down," said Off-Road Business Association President Roy Denner when asked for comment at the Brawley Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner Friday night.

"This is dangerous, that this local office just decides to go out and set a precedent like this, when all the signs pointed the other way. This is very serious," he added.


The American Sand Association, a La Verne-based volunteer organization of off-road recreation enthusiasts, has been pushing a petition to delist the plant since late 2001, citing new studies by biologist Arthur Phillips that concluded the species was not in decline — and was vehement in its reaction to the ruling.

When the petition was ignored, the ASA brought suit against the government to compel the service to make a ruling on the evidence presented.

The Fish and Wildlife Service had until May 31 to reach a determination.

"On behalf of our 17,000-plus members, we are insulted and very mad," said Greg Gorman, chairman of the ASA's board of directors, who said the government is ignoring Phillips' research.

"He's done three years' worth of study, along with historical data that was not flawed, unlike some past studies used to justify some of the closures," Gorman said. "It's pretty clear the (Fish and Wildlife Service) is affected by pressure from the anti-access groups."

Gorman said that the ASA "is definitely going to pursue this further" through legal means.

Conservation groups attempted to defend their stance on the access issue, greeting the announcement with praise while trying to deflect criticism that they are trying to close access to the dunes.

The Sierra Club, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and other groups have stood by their claims that OHV traffic impacts desert habitats if they are not regulated.

"It's good that this (petition) process is done and concluded," said Daniel Patterson, a desert ecologist with the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity said. "It's very clear that this kind of off-roading has an impact and those impacts need to be managed. I think the Department of the Interior should go back to the drawing board and try to continue the multiple-use strategy that is in effect now."

Patterson said the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the sand dunes, is doing a "good job" of managing the lands right now, but if a proposed Recreation Area Management Plan is approved, everything regresses.

"The only alternative being looked at right now is to open everything up," Patterson added. "If things were kept the way they are ... it would be great."

BLM El Centro Field Office Resources Manager Lynette Elser said the Fish and Wildlife Service's finding does not impact the bureau's efforts to clarify the biological opinion for the proposed management plan.

"This keeps things status quo," she said. If the plant had been delisted, the bureau would have been able to stop consultation for impacts of the Endangered Species Act, she added.

Gorman contended that Patterson's "50-50" view doesn't get the sides any closer.

"If they give back half of what they have closed off, then we can talk," Gorman said. "Show me the bird-watchers, show me the hikers? There are more (OHV) users coming in every day."

The status review was undertaken by the service after the petition to delist the plant was determined to provide "substantial information," according to Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service's Carlsbad office.

But after a final review was completed this past week, the service concluded in its report that the plant remains threatened by "habitat destruction and modification from off-highway vehicle use; ongoing predation by bruchid beetles ... and susceptibility to range wide population declines from natural and manmade factors, including vandalism and drought."

Imperial County District 5 Supervisor Wally Leimgruber said he was "deeply disappointed" in the service's findings."

Leimgruber, who had just returned from an intensive lobbying effort in Washington, D.C., with federal officials regarding the public lands issues in Imperial County, said the decision doesn't make sense.

"The science that has been published, that I've seen time and time again, is showing that the plant is doing well," Leimgruber said.

Leimgruber, along with several local chambers of commerce and the BLM, have been working to promote the economic vitality of off-road tourism in the region.

"When you restrict access, you begin to impact multiple use," Leimgruber said.

"I've had environmentalists tell me that they don't want to see human footprints in the desert," Leimgruber said.

Patterson said the conservation groups are not trying to shut down access.

"Nobody is trying to close the Algodones," Patterson said.

"There are more and different people coming out there, and we want everyone to be able to enjoy the area for a long time to come."

>> Staff Writer Marc Schanz can be reached at 337-3452 or at mschanz@ivpressonline.com

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2004/06/05/news/news03.txt

[Crowdog]

Please take a minute to read and sign the petition to Reform the Endangered Species Act:

http://www.petitiononline.com/esa2004/petition.html

This petition goes hand in hand with the ESA Protest Rally (http://www.americansandassociation.org/news/index.html?view=article&article=171) scheduled for June 11, 2004 in Carlsbad California.

There will also be a Letter Generator (http://www.americansandassociation.org/get_involved/esaprotest0607.html) up and ready to use on Monday, June 7.

More info (http://www.crowley-offroad.com/endangered_species_act_time_for_reform.htm) on ESA Reform.

[Crowdog]

Submitted the following to several papers today:

Editor:

As a responsible user of off-highway vehicles, I am outraged that Fish & Wildlife Service recently refused to remove Peirson's milk-vetch from endangered species list. By making this decision, the Fish & Wildlife Service turned their back on sound scientific evidence that proves this plant is not threatened.

This decision has confirmed my belief that the Endangered Species Act is seriously broken, and must be reformed. How can it be that a species can be declared endangered with little or no science to back up the decision, but cannot be removed once sound, peer-reviewed science is provided that proves it is not endangered?

The Endangered Species Act had good intentions when it was signed into law thirty years ago, but environmental extremists quickly turned it into a devastating legal weapon, with far-reaching consequences. It attempts to protect species at all costs, with no consideration for trade-offs or compensation for human needs.

If wise use of our public lands is important to you, I urge you to do something about it. Your representatives need to understand that reforming the Endangered Species Act is important to you.

Jon Crowley
Shingle Springs, CA

[XANDADA]

Sucks:grr: I signed the petition, good luck. John, you need to get some more of those anti-sierra chub shirts in - those are great....