The long-awaited decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the lynx as a Threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

CLICK HERE to link to the rule in its entirety (GPO web site).

Article on this lynx ruling from Predator Conservation Alliance's newsletter, "The Home Range" Spring 2000 issue:

 

Finally, after too many delays, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lynx as a "Threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act across its historic range in the lower 48 States. Predator Conservation Alliance is pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has finally acknowledged that the lynx is in very serious trouble in the lower 48 states. We hope this decision means that in decades and generations to come, outdoor enthusiasts from Maine to Washington state will have the chance to catch a glimpse of this beautiful animal, or at least discover its tracks in the deep snow.

However, we are skeptical of the agency's proposal for recovering the lynx. In making its decision, FWS concluded that the threat to the lynx is the "lack of guidance to conserve the species in current Federal land management plans." Therefore a conservation agreement recently signed by the U.S. Forest Service affecting all forest management plans within lynx habitat "will serve as a blueprint for recovery."

What happened to the practice of FWS being responsible for managing recovery of listed species, including writing its own recovery plan? From what we've read thus far, it looks as though FWS has delegated primary responsibility for recovering lynx to the Forest Service, the very agency whose management policies resulted in the lynx's decline in the first place. Both FWS and the conservation groups who have fought for the lynx's protection during the past six years (including PCA) have said that logging, road building, motorized recreation, and increased human access (for trapping and the like) in lynx habitat are the main reasons for the species' decline.

To continue to survive in the northern forests across the lower 48 states, the lynx is going to need more than a few amendments to National Forest management plans.
It was bad enough that PCA and other conservation groups had to wait six years and file three lawsuits (two of which we won and the last of which we filed on March 13th because of yet another delay by FWS) to get the agency to finally protect the lynx. Now we are looking at a proposal to give the Forest Service the lead on recovering the lynx. It appears that FWS is taking a new approach to recovery of threatened species - delay, defer and delegate.

We are still waiting to see the details of the listing decision. If our fears prove justified, we will pursue all administrative and legal means necessary to ensure the survival and recovery of the imperiled lynx throughout its former range.

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