Judge Restores Salamander to Threatened Species List
By Jeff Barnard, Associated Press
January 12, 2007

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Friday put a salamander that lives in old growth forests along the Klamath River back on California's threatened species list until the state Fish and Game Commission takes action.

The California Department of Fish and Game had stopped giving protection for the Scott Bar salamander under the California Endangered Species Act after new genetic work determined it was a subspecies of the Siskiyou Mountains salamander, which was listed.

Taking the Scott Bar salamander off the protected list had allowed some logging to go ahead in old growth forests on private land along the Klamath River in Northern California, but the ruling could put a pending logging plan on hold, said Noah Greenwald of the Centers for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

"The court's decision was important because it clarifies that only the Fish and Game Commission, and not DFG, after thorough scientific review and public comment can remove protection for species under the California Endangered Species Act," said Greenwald.

The California Fish and Game Commission is considering removing the Siskiyou Mountains salamander from protection after state biologists decided it was not as rare as once thought, and that 90 percent of its habitat is on federal lands.

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch found that because the Scott Bar salamander had been protected before it was declared a subspecies, it could not be denied protection by the department without formal action by the commission.

"We're working with the Fish and Game Commission to sort out the ruling and the various petitions before the commission right now," said Steve Martarano, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

"Because advances in genetic analyses allow detection of previously undetectable species, it is quite likely that other new species will be separated from already protected species. Today's decision ensures that these species will continue to receive protection until the Fish and Game Commission and the public review their status."

The two salamanders live under the surface in patches of loose rock where old growth forest keeps the air and ground cool and moist.

Siskiyou Mountain salamanders are found on more than 200 sites along the Klamath River in Northern California and the upper reaches of the Applegate River in Oregon. The Scott Bar salamander is known to inhabit only 27 sites around Scott Bar on the Klamath River.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year denied a Center for Biological Diversity petition for Endangered Species Act protection for the two salamanders after deciding that threats to their habitat from logging had dramatically declined and that salamanders have even been found in clear-cut forests.

The center is suing to reverse that decision.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.

Court Rules Salamanders Were Denied Protection Under ESA
EPIC/KS Wild Press Release
January 19, 2007

San Francisco, Calif -- In response to a suit brought by a coalition of five conservation groups, federal judge William Alsup ruled today that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally denied protection to the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The judge ordered the Service to issue a new 90-day finding on the petition by March 23, 2007, which will likely begin a 12-month review of the salamanders' status.

"With the worst record protecting the nation's wildlife of any modern presidency, the Bush administration has once again suppressed science for the benefit of their campaign contributors in the timber industry," says Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "We're delighted that the Siskiyou and newly discovered Scott Bar salamanders, which are threatened by extensive logging, will finally be considered for the protection they deserve."

To date, the Bush administration has protected just 56 species--by far the fewest for any five-year period in the history of the Endangered Species Act. There were 512 species protected under Bill Clinton and 234 protected during the first Bush presidency. The current administration has denied or delayed protection for hundreds of imperiled species.

"We have a responsibility to prevent the extinction of wildlife, because once they are gone, we cannot bring them back." said Joseph Vaile, campaign director for the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "The Scott Bar Salamander was just discovered last year. It would be a tragedy if politics led to its extinction."

Both species of salamander live in mature and old-growth forests such as those that once covered much of the Northwest. Today only fragments of these forests remain, facing increasing pressure from logging and development. In the finding, the Fish and Wildlife Service admitted that logging affects the salamanders' habitat and had occurred extensively throughout the species' ranges, but denied protection anyway based on a purported lack of information. Judge Alsup flatly rejected this flimsy rationale, stating: "This order agrees that on this record, plaintiffs have demonstrated substantial information presented by various scientists that logging and other activity threatened the salamanders."

"Logging of the last remaining old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest threatens the survival of not just the Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders but countless other species," according to Amy Atwood, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, which represented the groups. "Today's decision was a victory for salamanders, old-growth forests, and future generations that just may have a chance to observe these unique salamanders and other members of the complex web of life found in Pacific Northwest forests."

Groups on the suit include the Center for Biological Diversity, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Environmental Protection Information Center, Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands Project. The groups were represented by Amy Atwood, attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, Erin Madden, attorney, and Sharon Duggan, attorney.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and as defined under the provisions of "fair use", any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment for non-profit research and for educational use by our membership.