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SCIENCESaturday 13 January 2018
U.S. says snow-loving lynx no longer need special protection
By MATTHEW BROWN In this April 19, 2005 file photo, a Canada lynx heads into the Rio Grande National Forest after That was based on mod-
Associated Press being released near Creede, Colo. els predicting widespread
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — and substantial changes to
Wildlife officials in the Associated Press the animals’ snowy habitat
United States declared due to climate change.
Canada lynx recovered what they said were un- Idaho and Washington visor in Montana. Bush said those models
on Thursday and said the certainties in long-term cli- turned out to be too uncer-
snow-loving wild cats no mate models. state. In Maine, officials said, tain to justify using them as
longer need special pro- An assessment by govern- a basis for whether lynx are
tections following steps to ment biologists based on There’s no reliable estimate easements protecting recovered.
preserve their habitat. that shorter time span con- A similar conclusion was
The Fish and Wildlife Service cluded lynx populations of their population, leaving more than 2 million acres of reached by the agency
said it will begin drafting a remain resilient and even in 2014 for another snow-
rule to revoke the lynx’s have increased versus his- officials to rely on informa- forest have benefited lynx. loving creature — the
threatened listing across torical levels in parts of Col- North American wolver-
the Lower 48 state under orado and Maine. tion about habitat and In Western states, the U.S. ine. In that case, a federal
the Endangered Species Canada lynx are about the judge overruled rejected
Act. Wildlife advocates size of bobcats, but with hare populations to gauge Forest Service and Bureau the government’s decision
said they would challenge huge paws to help them not to give wolverines pro-
the move in court. navigate deep snow. the species’ status of Land Management ad- tections, saying the animal
First imposed in 2000, the The animals also are found was “squarely in the path
threatened designation in Montana, Minnesota, “Based on what we know, opted land management of climate change.”
has interrupted numerous Wildlife advocates said
logging and road building we think the habitat has plans providing similar ben- Thursday’s announcement
projects on federal lands, was similarly flawed.
frustrating industry groups improved, protections efits, they said. “The earlier finding was that
and Western lawmakers. lynx remain in danger and
Some scientists and wildlife around the habitat have Under an earlier assess- are likely to be exterminat-
advocates have warned ed by the end of the cen-
that climate change could improved, and therefore ment of lynx, published in tury. Since that’s the best
reduce lynx habitat and science, then we need to
the availability of its pri- lynx populations have im- December 2016, U.S. gov- follow that,” said Matthew
mary food source — snow- Bishop with the Western En-
shoe hares. proved,” said Jodi Bush, ernment biologists pre- vironmental Law Center.
Thursday’s decision came Two Republican lawmakers
after government biolo- U.S. dicted some populations from Montana — U.S. Rep.
gists shortened their time Greg Gianforte and Sen.
span for considering cli- Fish and Wildlife field super- would disappear by 2100. Steve Daines — said they
mate change threats, from welcomed the move to-
2100 to 2050, because of ward lifting protections.q
Study blames pot farms for
poisoning of threatened owls
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) boldt, Mendocino and Del Seven of the owls tested In this May 8, 2003, file photo, a northern spotted owl sits on
— Rat poison is con- Norte counties, part of the positive for rat poison, used a tree branch in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp
taminating threatened so-called Emerald Triangle, by pot farmers to keep ro- Sherman, Ore.
northern spotted owls in where remote farms — dents away from their irri-
California forests, and many in old-growth forests gation systems and crops. Associated Press
marijuana farms appear — produce much of the The northern spotted owls
to be to blame, accord- marijuana grown for the are listed as threatened
ing to a study published U.S. black market. under state and federal
Thursday. Researchers from the Uni- endangered species acts.
The study published in versity of California, Davis, Forty percent of another
the journal Avian Con- and the California Acad- species, barred owls, also
servation and Ecology emy of Sciences tested tested positive for the rat
focused on owls in North- 10 northern spotted owls poison. Tissue samples of
ern California’s Hum- found dead in the region. the barred owls were pro-
vided by researchers car-
rying out a different study, tine marijuana farms to the juana is legal in Califor-
the scientists said. deaths of fishers, a weasel- nia, potentially driving
The species, originally from like forest predator that the proliferation of pot
the U.S. East, are consid- has disappeared from half farms.
ered an invasive species in of its former range in the California officials argue
the Northwest and a threat Pacific Northwest. that legalization will al-
to spotted owls. Gabriel says he’s con- low them to increase
Study lead author Mourad cerned that the poisoning oversight and regula-
Gabriel earlier carried out of wildlife will increase now tion of cannabis farms in
similar research linking rat that recreational mari- fragile forests.q
poison used by clandes-
