California Tiger Salamander Protected, Ranchers Win Concessions

WASHINGTON, DC, July 27, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has downlisted the California tiger salamander from endangered to threatened in two counties, and at the same time has listed the Central California population as threatened. The changes mean that the salamander species is now listed as threatened throughout its range.

The federal protection comes after nearly 14 years of petitions from scientists and conservation organizations as well as a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2002. It enjoys the unanimous support of every independent scientific expert and wildlife biologist who commented on the proposal.

"We are pleased that the California tiger salamander has at long last been officially protected in Central California," said Kassie Siegel, a staff attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Now it is time to move forward with efforts to protect the salamander and its habitat for future generations."

But conservationists were not supportive of downlisting the salamander species in Santa Barbara and Sonoma counties.

"Changing the status of the Santa Barbara and Sonoma salamanders from endangered to threatened directly conflicts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rationale for the emergency listings of the Sonoma and Santa Barbara salamanders," said Karen Kraus, a staff attorney with the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara. "The decision to change the status from endangered to threatened has no basis in science."

The California tiger salamander once lived throughout most of the Central Valley, adjacent foothills, Coast Ranges, Santa Barbara County, and the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County. (Photo courtesy UC Berkeley)

"This special rule will help preserve the salamanders and other wildlife that depend on rangeland," said Steve Thompson, manager of the Service's California/Nevada Operations Office. "At the same time, it will strengthen California's unique ranching heritage. Good ranchers are vital to the survival of the salamander and we want to help them stay in ranching."

Emphasizing the benefits of the special rule, Thompson said it "recognizes the pivotal role that ranchers play in restoring this species through the wise stewardship of their lands."

The rule allows some traditional ranching activities to continue without additional regulation, such as stock pond construction and maintenance. Thompson says these activities can benefit California tiger salamanders. "As natural vernal pools are lost, stock ponds created for livestock are important alternative breeding sites for California tiger salamanders."

The amphibian was historically found throughout most of the Central Valley, adjacent foothills, Coast Ranges, Santa Barbara County, and the Santa Rosa Plain in Sonoma County.

On Monday, the Service said it will propose 47 critical habitat units for the salamander, encompassing a total of 382,666 acres, in portions of 20 counties in Central California: Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Monterey, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Yolo.

The majority of the areas proposed for critical habitat designation occur on privately owned land.

This critical habitat rule does not propose for San Mateo or Santa Cruz counties or for the Sonoma or Santa Barbara populations. Critical habitat for the Santa Barbara population was proposed in January and will be finalized in November 2004. Critical habitat for the Sonoma population will not be proposed at present.

The California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense, is "an important part of California's precious natural heritage," says the Center for Biological Diversity, which has worked on this issue for years.

This salamander requires seasonal ponds, or vernal pools, for successful breeding. The species breeds during the winter rainy season, but spends the majority of the year in underground refuges, such as small mammal burrows, in grassland or oak woodland habitat.

The habitat types the California tiger salamander requires, vernal pools, grasslands, and oak woodlands, are some of the most endangered habitat types in California, the Center points out, so protecting the salamander also protects these natural areas.

Less than one-tenth of one percent of California's native grasslands remain, and approximately 95 percent of California's vernal pool landscape has already been lost.

Some California ranchers have shown that they are willing to work with state and federal agencies to protect the tiger salamander. In May 2003, the California Rangeland Trust, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Game, completed a 32 acre mitigation project on the Koopmann Ranch in Alameda County to protect California tiger salamander habitat from a developer.

The Koopman Ranch (Photo courtesy California Rangeland Trust)

"This easement is an excellent example of how agencies, agricultural land trusts, developers and ranchers can work successfully together on habitat mitigation," says Nita Vail, executive director of the California Rangeland Trust.

"A community needed additional housing and a developer wanted to build," said Vail. "However, there were unavoidable impacts to the California tiger salamander. An offsite mitigation project made perfect sense and managed grazing was a compatible component."

"The California Department of Fish and Game believes the conservation and management of the California tiger salamander breeding pond and surrounding habitat on the Koopmann Ranch will provide long term benefit to the species and the people of California." said California Department of Fish and Game representative Scott Wilson.

In 30 days, both the threatened listing for the Central population of the California tiger salamander and the special rule will take effect.

The Service will receive public comment on the proposed critical habitat designation for 60 days commencing with publication of the proposal in the Federal Register.