U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agrees to Consider Montana Grayling as Endangered Species

Update

By Courtney Lowery, 10-01-09



	Photo by Jonathan Stumpf.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to consider the Montana fluvial arctic grayling, better known across the state as the Big Hole grayling, for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency’s promise comes after decades of legal wrangling, as was made as part of a settlement in a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and Pat Munday and George Wuerthner, both individuals who have worked on the grayling issue.

As part of the agreement the agency will have to make a decision on the grayling listing by August 30 of 2010.

“The Montana fluvial arctic grayling is on the brink of extinction,” Noah Greenwald, of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release. “We hope the Obama administration will put an end to the grayling’s 27-year wait for protection.”

For great background on the Big Hole Grayling, including profiles of the people who have been involved with the fish’s survival over the past several decades, read Jonathan Stumpf’s series on NewWest.Net here.

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By Courtney Lowery, 10-01-09 | comments (7) | email story | print story

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Comments

By EcoRover, 10-02-09

'Bout time. How sad that citizens must sue their own government to force it to implement the law.

We've tried other approaches to restoring grayling: "voluntary" efforts by the Big Hole Watershed Committee over the past 15 years (see "Big Hole Watershed Committee grayling report" at http://bhwcgrayling.blogspot.com/ ) and the "too little, too late" restoration projects by Montana FWP & US FWS. With these efforts, grayling have steadily declined.

Now let's try what is required under the law of the land. Given the huge amount of evidence for the genetic uniqueness of Big Hole River grayling and for their dwindling population, an ESA listing is totally justified.

Fish need water, and when irrigation ditches pull the river below biologically justified flows, ranchers are taking an endangered species.

By logger, 10-02-09

I'm sure the "collaborationists", Trout Unlimited and the livestock industry won't like this!

By Derek, 10-02-09

Recall, within 2 days of the 2007 decision not to protect the fluvial arctic grayling (without a doubt one of the most endangered fish in the West), the Assistant Secretary of Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Julie MacDonald, was forced to resign after an internal investigation revealed she rode roughshod over numerous recommendations by agency scientists concerning protection of endangered species. The new administration is currently reviewing the grayling decision, as well as approximately two dozen other endangered species decisions in which MacDonald and 4 other former DOI appointees may have improperly interfered with scientific recommendations.

By Glenn Hockett, 10-02-09

I use to fish for these fish years ago, but won't do it now. Give them some water, hopefully its not too late. Thanks to all that motivated this decision.

By horst, 10-04-09

I'm betting it won't be long before the same crowd which is out shooting wolves will be tossing these beautiful fish up on the bank like suckers or whitefish.

By Jay Greene, 10-04-09

More probably, even small streams in Montana's high country will have become too warm by the time the decision can be implemented.
I think we may have dilly-dallied too long in our anti-environmental pretenses to solve our problems by such duct-tape efforts.

By Smithhammer, 10-04-09

Good. So why is it that we still can't eliminate the one thing that is clearly the biggest threat to salmonid species which are already listed as Endangered on the lower Snake?

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