Note: One would expect the drug cartels to be exempt as usual. But
a real problem for everyone else. "avoid destroying or modifying"
really means no access.
Ariz., N.M. frog gets habitat protection
by Felicia Fonseca - Mar. 20, 2012 06:52 AM
Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF -- The federal government is designating more than 10,000
acres of critical habitat for a rare spotted frog found in Arizona
and New Mexico.
The acreage in west-central and southwestern New Mexico, and central
and southeastern Arizona have water sources that the Chiricahua
leopard frog needs to rebound.
The aquatic-breeding amphibians once found at hundreds of moist sites
across the Southwest now exist in less than 20 percent of their
historic range.
The frog was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in
2002, but no critical habitat was proposed.
An environmental group sued and reached a settlement with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service in 2009 to consider whether critical
habitat would help the frog.
The agency announced a final ruling Monday in compliance with a court
order.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/
2012/03/20/20120320PNI0320-wir-arizona-endangered-spotted-frog-
habitat.html#ixzz1pfhCC0CH
Note: they "ask"?
Frog found in Ariz., NM gets habitat protection
Tue, 20/03/2012 - 8:31pm
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.svherald.com/associatedpress/254894
FILE - This April 15, 2005 file photo shows a Chiricahua leopard frog
makes
it's way to an artificial pond in San Bernardino Valley, Ariz. The
U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service has set aside more than 10,000 acres as critical
habitat
for this threatened frog found in New Mexico and Arizona. (AP Photo/Matt
York, File)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
designating more than 10,000 acres of critical habitat for a rare
spotted frog found in Arizona and New Mexico that has disappeared
from 80 percent of its historic habitat in the country.
The acreage in west-central and southwestern New Mexico, and central
and southeastern Arizona has water sources that the Chiricahua
leopard frog needs to rebound. The aquatic-breeding amphibians once
were found at hundreds of moist sites across the Southwest but now
are limited mostly to headwater streams and springs, and livestock
tanks.
"This is a very hopeful step for a beautiful creature that really
deserves this scale, magnitude of protection," said Michael Robinson
of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Ten thousand acres for a
very little creature may be the difference between survival and
recovery or extinction, so we're very happy."
The frogs made their home in ponds and creeks across New Mexico and
Arizona until the 1970s when the population declined due to drought,
disease and threats from nonnative species, like crayfish, American
bullfrogs and barred tiger salamanders.
Environmentalists petitioned to protect the frog under the Endangered
Species Act in 1998. The request was granted four years later, but no
critical habitat was proposed. Federal wildlife officials said at the
time that they could work better with landowners and others on
conservation plans without the restrictions of critical habitat.
WildEarth Guardians sued, saying that the designation would help
protect the frog's environment from livestock grazing and predators.
Biologists also were concerned about chytrid, a fungus that has been
affecting frogs throughout the world.
The environmental group reached a settlement with the Fish and
Wildlife Service in 2009 to consider whether critical habitat would
help. The agency announced a final decision Tuesday in compliance
with a court order. It goes into effect April 19.
Part of that process was reassessing the status and threats of the
frog after discovering that leopard frogs on the eastern slopes of
Arizona's Huachuca Mountains actually are a population of the
Chiricahua leopard frog.
Although the critical habitat designation includes some private land,
it does not impose any legally binding duties on private citizens,
said Tom Buckley, a spokesman with the Fish and Wildlife Service in
Albuquerque, N.M.
The agency asks that owners of private land, like ranchers, consult
with the federal government to determine whether their actions might
affect the frogs, he said. Federal agencies are required to avoid
destroying or modifying areas designated as critical habitat, Buckley
said.
"They usually understand what it is we're doing and why," he said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service had proposed setting aside 11,467 acres
for the frog, but that was reduced to 10,346 acres by excluding some
areas.
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