September 24, 2005
By DYLAN DARLING
Klamath Falls Herald & News
Agency Lake is no longer listed as bull trout critical habitat.
The change came in a final list released Friday by the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of waters that need to be protected for the
recovery of the fish that is labeled threatened under the Endangered Species
Act.
With the change, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation won't have to go through
consultation, a federal review process, before doing projects on the lake. The
Bureau bought Agency Lake Ranch, the property next to the lake, in 1998 to use
for water storage.
"There will be no consultation for Reclamation on Agency Lake," said
Curt Mullis, manager of the Fish and Wildlife Service's Klamath Falls office.
With Agency Lake now off the list, the critical habitat designation doesn't
include any of the waters of the Klamath Reclamation Project, said spokeswoman
Rae Olsen.
"We will operate the Project as usual," she said.
Bull trout, members of the char subgroup of the salmon family, can grow to
more than 20 pounds and live up to 12 years, according to the Fish and
Wildlife Service. The fish need cold, clean water to thrive and are indicators
of water quality and health.
In all, the Fish and Wildlife Service listed 911 stream miles and 24,610 acres of lakes or reservoirs as bull trout critical habitat. All of the lakes and marshes are in the Klamath Basin, in the Sycan Marsh. Last September, officials announced what they said would be the final listing for the habitat, but then decided to re-evaluate the list.
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One of the places that was changed in the
re-evaluation was Agency Lake. Last September's listing called for 706 miles
of streams and 33,939 acres of lakes and reservoirs, made up of the Sycan
Marsh and Agency Lake.
"I don't anticipate any more changes," Mullis said.
In January 2002, the Fish and Wildlife Service reached a court settlement with
the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan that created a
schedule for setting bull trout critical habitat, according to the Service.
The two environmental groups had sued the service for not designating critical
habitat after listing bull trout in 1999.
Fish and Wildlife officials said Friday they plan to
designate 3,780 miles of streams and 110,364 of lakes and reservoirs in
Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana as bull trout critical habitat.
The final designation is a huge drop from the amount proposed in 2002 and is a
disappointment to the environmental groups. Federal biologists had proposed
more than 18,000 miles of rivers and streams and 530,000 acres of lakes and
reservoirs in the four western states.
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"They eliminated 82 percent of what they
originally proposed for critical habitat," said Arlene Montgomery of
Friends of the Wild Swan, based in Swan Lake, Mont.
Assistant Interior Secretary Craig Manson last year said that bull trout
benefit from protections already in place for salmon and other wildlife.
Some examples of those are the Northwest Forest Plan
and the Washington Forest Practices Rule; numerous conservation agreements
with American Indian tribes; and conservation plans that address bull trout on
military installations such as Fort Lewis and the Whidbey Island Naval Air
Station in Washington and the Bayview Acoustic Research Center in Idaho.
Environmental groups need to study the decision more before determining if
they will challenge the decision in court, Montgomery said.
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Critical habitat is a term defined in the ESA of 1973.
It marks geographic areas that have features essential for the conservation of
a threatened or endangered species, according to the Fish and Wildlife
Service. A critical habitat label lasts until the species is considered to be
recovered, and is taken off either the threatened or endangered species lists.
Once marked, critical habitat may require special management considerations.
For bull trout, critical habitat is limited to the water the fish live and
rear in, and does not affect adjacent land. Federal managers need to consult
with wildlife biologists on projects such as timber sales or livestock grazing
plans that could harm protected species in their designated critical habitat.
Boating and fishing, farming and ranching or other uses of land next to the
water shouldn't be affected, officials said.
No waters where bull trout aren't currently found were designated, according
to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Bull trout in the Basin are found in 21 percent of the native range, Mullis
said. Efforts now are on recovering populations in those areas and not
reintroducing them to places they no longer are found.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is working on a review of bull trout to
determine whether a change in its listing status is needed. Work on a recovery
plan for bull trout is on hold until the review is completed.
On the Net: http://species.fws.gov/bulltrout
Source: http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/09/24/news/top_stories/top2.txt