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"Endangered" Means There's Still Time
Endangered Species Act, in political limbo, is salmon’s best chance for recovery
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he statistics for the wild salmon’s decline in the Pacific Northwest are staggering. In 1913, more than 33 million sockeye salmon were harvested. Currently the total salmon harvest for all five species averages around 24 million fish yearly. On the Columbia River, the sockeye and Snake River chinook salmon face extinction and are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. Less than 1,000 wild spring chinook are expected to return to Idaho this year, a quarter ofthe level fromjust four years ago.
On a local level, the South Fork ofthe Nooksack River spring chinook returns averaged 340 fish yearly from 1984 to 1992. In 1992 the return was 103 fish. The federal government will be studying them to see ifthey should be listed as an endangered species under the ESA as part ofa survey ofall salmon species in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Once a species is listed it becomes illegal to take, possess or sell that species. Along with this listing comes critical habitat designations and habitat conservation plans. But as of 1992 only 16 percent oflisted species had critical habitat designations. This is due to underfunding and the US Fish and Wildlife Service's fear ofpolitical repercussions from designating critical
How could the ESA save Nooksack River spring chinook?
Recently I spoke with Tom Edwards Jr., a fisheries technician with the Lummi Natural Resources Department. Tom monitors chinook salmon runs in the Nooksack River and reviews logging practices in the Nooksack watershed. Overthe last 20 years, siltation from sloppy logging practices has formed an increasingly larger Nooksack river delta. The silt also smothers salmon eggs. When I asked what could be done to save the spring chinook runs ifthey were listed under the ESA, he said, "I’d focus on stream restoration, rebuilding strearasides to cool the water temperatures down. Slow down development. Limit the clearcut sizes and close the unused logging roads." Listing the spring chinook run under the ESA could bring these changes.
habitat.
The ESA itself is threatened.
The act is up for reauthorization and Congress will debate it in 1995. A strengthened ESA can better protect the endangered salmon runs ofthe Pacific Northwest.
According to Chuck Lennox, chair ofthe Endangered Species Act Coalition ofWashington, the act is in need ofimprovements. To help protect salmon, the act should manage on an ecosystem basis instead ofon a species by species basis. This means protecting entire watersheds and landscapes for salmon. It also would mean listing multiple species ofsalmon or multiple runs. It could also help if citizens could sue immediately over controversial projects such as dams and timber sales instead ofhaving to wait 60 days in which significant damage could be done to salmon and their habitat. In addition, more funding is needed to implement the act and to enforce it.
Chuck said, "The bills that many environmentalists are supporting are H R. 2043 (Reps. Garry E. Studds, D-Mass and John Dingell, D-MI) and S. 921 (Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont. and John H. Chafee, R-R.I.)." Their bills provide needed changes such as increased funding and better habitat conservation plans, unlike another bill, H.R. 1490, proposed by Rep. W.J. Tauzin (D-LA). This bill would weaken the ESA by providing an economic impact analysis ofproposed listings, and by giving industry more say in the recovery process.
Though the ESA has saved species such as the American alligator. Peregrine falcon and bald eagle, many more have perished. Seven species have been declared extinct after they were placed on the ESA and 34 have gone extinct while awaiting listing. The act has suffered from gross underfunding and political manipulations. This summer, when water was being spilled over several dams on the Columbia to help salmon, hydro- power officials. Speaker ofthe House Foley and Senators Baucus and Hatfield persuaded President Clinton to stop the project. They claimed it was costing taxpayers and industry too much money. According to Doug DeHart, Assistant ChiefofFisheries for the Oregon Department ofFish and Wildlife, "politics and expediency have again taken precedence over the survival ofthe salmon."
When Americans think ofthe Northwest, they think ofthe rain, the large trees, the mountains and the salmon. Ifwe lose our wild salmon, we lose part ofour identity. An endangered listing is not the end for the salmon, because it means there is still time.
Porter Ingrum
How Do Species Get Listed?
The Endangered Species Act is the wild salmon’s best chance for survival. Its goal is to maintain the natural diversity ofplants and animals and the ecosystems on which they depend. Understanding how plants and animals are placed on the ESA is the first step in understanding how endangered and threatened species are protected.
In order to list a species under the act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) (or the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) for marine species such as Salmon) publishes notices of review that identify species as candidates for listing. Through this process the FWS or NMFS seeks biological information to complete the review. This notice will be published in the Federal Register. Currently 3,600 plant and animal species are candidates for listing. The FWS lists species according to the degree ofthreat they face followed by the evolutionary and genetic uniqueness of the species (genus, then species and lastly subspecies).
Once a species is chosen for listing the FWS or NMFS again publishes this proposed rule in the Federal Register. Then, interested parties are allowed to provide additional information and comment on the proposal during a 60 day comment period. Public hearings may also be held.
Within one year of listing, three things may happen. (1) A final listing rule is published. (2) Ifthe biological information does not support the listing, the proposal is withdrawn. (3) At the end ofone year ifthere is significant disagreement within the scientific community concerning the biological merit of the listing, the proposal may be extended, but only for six months. Then, a decision will be based on the best scientific information available.
Ifthe final listing rule is approved it becomes effective 30 days after pubhcation in the Federal Register, and its status is reviewed at least every 5 years to determine if federal protection is still needed.
A species is added to the list when its survival is threatened by one or more ofthe following factors:(l) disease or predation;(2) the present or threatened destruction, modification or curtailment ofthe species habitat or range;(3) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes;(4) and the inadequacy ofexisting regulatory mechanisms and other natural or manmade factors affecting the species continued existence.
A species is listed as either endangered or threatened. An "endangered" species is one that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part ofits range. A "threatened" species is one that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
When a species is listed the FWS or NMFS can designate critical habitat for but only where “prudent and determin^t.” For many salmon stocks that time for is now.
