Dozens of North Coast species in decline

The Times-Standard

November 16, 2005

A government study lists 33 animal species in the North Coast/Klamath region that are endangered, threatened or sensitive, giving further evidence to the plight of the region’s salmon population.

As reported in Tuesday’s edition, the two-year study by the University of California at Davis lists more than 800 animal species in California as imperiled by development, pollution and recreational activities.

Broken down by region, 74 species in the North Coast/Klamath region experienced declines in population. Eleven of those species are endemic, or found only in that region.

Of the 74 species in the North Coast/Klamath region, 21 were listed as critically imperiled, or at a very high risk of extinction; 27 as imperiled, or at a high risk of extinction; 17 as vulnerable, or at a moderate risk of extinction; and three as uncommon but not rare.

Coming as no surprise is the threat to the region’s fish. The North Coast/Klamath’s critically imperiled species include green sturgeon, Sacramento perch, pink salmon, chum salmon and spring run chinook salmon. Coho salmon, steelhead trout and spring run Trinity-Klamath chinook salmon were listed as imperiled.

The river lamprey was listed as uncommon, but not rare.

Among the species listed as critically imperiled are marbled murrelet, yellow rail, willow flycatcher and least bittern, short-tailed storm petrel, Klamath crayfish, American white pelican, mardon skipper and longfin smelt.

Among the species listed as imperiled are tricolored blackbird, grasshopper sparrow, Bell’s sage sparrow, California floater (a mussel), burrowing owl, Swainson’s hawk, Western snowy plover, black tern, black swift, tufted puffin, saltmarsh common yellowthroat and California red-legged frog.

The report, prepared for the state Department of Fish and Game, was required under a 2001 federal law as a condition for states to receive federal wildlife conservation grants. California officials hadn’t planned to make the nearly 500-page study public until January, but The Associated Press obtained a copy from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition to housing and commercial development, threats to California’s animal species include foreign species that invade and take over ecosystems, pollution, pesticides, grazing and logging.

”There are about a dozen major problems,” said David Bunn, a former state Department of Fish and Game deputy director now with UC Davis’ Wildlife Health Center, which prepared the report.

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On the Net:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/habitats/wdp/index.html

 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 
 

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Source:  http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3222660