NEWS RELEASE

Contact Information

Canada Lynx Critical Habitat Proposed
by U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Lynx habitat expanded but not enough to assure long term survival

Laramie — Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its proposal for designating Critical Habitat for Canada Lynx. Conservation groups are pleased that lynx Critical Habitat is being expanded to include the Greater Yellowstone Area, but criticized the agency for failing to designate any critical habitat in the Southern Rockies, where lynx have been reintroduced.

“Today’s proposed revision echoes the slap in the face that the federal government gave to Colorado’s reintroduction efforts in 2006,” said Josh Pollock, Conservation Director for Center for Native Ecosystems, a Denver-based conservation organization.

In the proposed rule published today in the Federal Register, the Fish and Wildlife Service cited the uncertain future of Colorado’s lynx population as reason to omit all Colorado habitat from the designation, saying "[a]lthough Colorado’s reintroduction effort is an important step toward the recovery of lynx, we are not proposing revised critical habitat in the Southern Rockies because of the current uncertainty that a self-sustaining lynx population will become established."

“Critical habitat is about recovery,” said Pollock.  “The whole point of critical habitat in Colorado and the Southern Rockies more generally should be to ensure that lynx can survive and thrive here for the long-term.  The state and many others have put so much effort into establishing lynx on the ground here.”

Jonathan Proctor, Southern Rockies Representative, Defenders of Wildlife, responded to Fish and Wildlife’s statement, “It is strange that Fish & Wildlife confirms the importance of Colorado’s lynx reintroduction efforts and at the same time fails to offer the lynx greater protection by designating Critical Habitat in the Southern Rockies.”

“We’re pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service is expanding its designations of critical habitat into western Wyoming, including key wildlife areas like the Mount Leidy Highlands and the Wyoming range,” said Duane Short, Wild Species Program Director, for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “But if the Fish and Wildlife Service is to recover the lynx throughout its historic range, then they need to designate Critical Habitat in Colorado and Southern Wyoming where lynx have been reintroduced and are currently breeding.

To ensure the Southern Rockies lynx population is not weakened due to inbreeding, southern populations must have access to populations to the north.”

It is essential that Critical Habitat is designated in Wyoming’s Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, according to Short. Recognizing the importance of allowing Wyoming and Colorado lynx populations to connect, the Forest Service has already designated lynx habitats and corridors in the Medicine Bow-Routt NF.

Canada lynx historically occupied four geographically distinct areas within the continental United States. These areas included the Northeast, the Great Lakes states, the northern Rocky Mountains/Cascades and the southern Rocky Mountains. Lynx today are known to occur in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, Idaho, and possibly in Michigan. A recent reintroduction program has reestablished a population in Colorado.

“By failing to pay attention to Southern Rockies lynx, a disconnect is occurring between U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the Forest Service on conservation policy,” added Short.

Public comments on this proposal are being solicited by the USFWS, and must be received or postmarked on or before April 28, 2008.

Mailing Address is:
Public Comments Processing, Attn: [FWS–R6–ES–2008–0026]
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222
Arlington, VA 22203.