The Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and
conservationist George Wuerthner today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for failing to list the Montana fluvial arctic grayling as an
endangered species.
In response to a petition from CBD and Wuerthner, FWS determined in 1994
that the Montana fluvial (found in rivers) arctic grayling warranted
protection as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.
However, the agency maintained that this status was "precluded" by
higher-priority activities.
Despite two decades of voluntary state actions that failed to restore
the grayling, and recent dramatic declines in grayling populations, FWS
has not taken further action to list the species.
Once found throughout the upper Missouri River drainage above Great
Falls, Montana, the Montana fluvial arctic grayling has been reduced to
a single self-sustaining population in a short stretch of the Big Hole
River above Divide Dam. Dewatering of the grayling's stream habitat and
degradation of riparian areas are primary factors in its decline.
Extensive water withdrawals from the Big Hole River and four consecutive
years of drought continue to threaten the Big Hole population.
"Fish and Wildlife has delayed listing the grayling for more than 20
years," said Noah Greenwald, conservation biologist with CBD. "Further
delays will result in the extinction of the last fluvial population of
grayling in the continental United States and a unique part of Montana's
natural heritage."
To avoid listing the grayling as endangered, the state of Montana, FWS,
private landowners and others established a voluntary drought management
plan for the Big Hole. Though well-intentioned, the plan failed to
maintain critical flows in the river for the past four years, resulting
in sharp declines in grayling populations.
In part, these efforts failed because several landowners failed to
cooperate with the program.
Under a 1994 state recovery plan, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
attempted to establish populations of Montana fluvial arctic grayling in
other rivers, including the Ruby, Sun and Missouri. According to the
state's own studies, however, these efforts failed to establish
self-sustaining populations.
"The failure of these efforts highlights the importance of the Big Hole
population and the need for endangered listing," said Jon Marvel,
executive director of WWP.
The conservation groups are represented by Judi Brawer from Advocates
for the West in Boise, Idaho.
Background
A member of the salmon family, the arctic grayling is widely
distributed across Canada and Alaska. Historically, fluvial populations
of the arctic grayling existed in only two places in the lower 48
states: Michigan and the upper Missouri River of Montana.
Populations in Michigan were extinct by the 1930s, and populations in
Montana were restricted to the Big Hole River by the end of the 1970s.
Studies show that the Montana fluvial arctic grayling is genetically
distinct from grayling populations in Canada and Alaska, and genetically
and behaviorally distinct from lake populations in Montana and other
states.