By Bob Brown
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently completed a scientific review of the Canada Lynx in the United States that concluded the species may no longer warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act and should be considered for removal because of recovery.
After almost 20 years of review and working in partnership with state, tribal, industry and land managers on conservation of this species, the Wildlife Service announced it will begin development of a proposed rule to delist the species.
The Canada Lynx was listed as threatened in 2000 due to the lack of regulatory mechanisms on federal public lands which were a large part of lynx habitat in the lower 48 states. Upon receiving Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection, federal land managers throughout the lynx’s range started implementing conservation measures to protect the species. For example, all U.S. Forest Service land management plans in the Rocky Mountains region have been amended to include conservation measures for the lynx. In addition, in Maine, private landowners voluntarily supported working-woodland easements that protected nearly 2.5 million acres of forest, benefiting the lynx and other species.
A cousin of the more common bobcat, the Canada Lynx is similar in size, but can be distinguished by its large black-tipped tail, long tufts of black hair at the tips of its ears, and long legs with large, furry paws for hunting snow shoe hares in deep snow.
Providing the Canada Lynx protection under the ESA also prompted an increase in scientific understanding of lynx biology., Research, monitoring and conservation efforts conducted by state and federal agencies., tribes and academic institutions helped refine biologists' understanding of habitat needs, distributions, population characteristics and potential stress factors.
The Columbia Basin Herald reported in its Jan. 19 edition that, given the outcome of this analysis, the Wildlife Service will not at this time be completing a recovery plan for the Canada Lynx. The recommendation doesn't remove or negate the Endangered Species Act protection currently in place for the lynx. To delist a species, the Wildlife Service must follow a process the same as what is used in considering whether to list species The next step is to publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register, receive public comments, review and analyze those comments, conduct a peer review, and announce a final decision.
New rules for
freshwater fishing
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners has adopted rules simplifying sport fishing for freshwater species – including steelhead, trout, warm water fish, sturgeon, shad and carp, with some exceptions – which are effective July 1. A few of the rules are:
• Reducing the number of exceptions to the year-round lake season.
• Eliminate mandatory steelhead retention.
• Standardizing the daily limit and minimum size requirements for bass, walleye and channel catfish in the Columbia River (downstream of Chief Joseph Dam) and its tributaries, including catfish in the Columbia, the Snake River and its tributaries. More information on the rules can be found online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meeting/2018/01/agenda jan1818.html.
Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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