For Immediate Release
March 16, 2004

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Denver, Colorado – Conservation groups today applauded the adoption of a habitat protection plan, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, for a rare Wyoming plant. The plan will protect some key habitat of the desert yellowhead (Yermo xanthocephalus), an extremely rare wildflower found only in the Beaver Rim area, near the northern edge of the Red Desert.

“The desert yellowhead exists on only a handful of acres,” noted Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "This plan will help protect the yellowhead from extinction."

The desert yellowhead was designated a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act in March 2002. Although this designation confers some protection to the plants themselves, the new Critical Habitat designation requires federal agencies to better protect the plant's habitat as well. The Critical Habitat designation is unlikely to affect adjacent private landowners.

"The designation of Critical Habitat is a key step in recovering endangered species and removing them from the Endangered Species Act list," said Jacob Smith, Center for Native Ecosystem’s Executive Director. The Fish and Wildlife Service's own data show that species with Critical Habitat are more likely to be recovering than those without it.

The groups criticized the size of the protected habitat area, pointing out that it will not adequately protect the plant from all of its current threats. "The Fish and Wildlife Service should have made the designation slightly larger, but they and the Bureau of Land Management might be able to compensate by fully protecting the plant's habitat," added Smith.

The critical habitat is currently under lease for oil and gas production, with a buffer of a few hundred meters for the yellowhead population. Past drilling has resulted only in dry holes, and oil and gas leases will not be renewed as they expire. Unfortunately, the critical habitat rule fails to withdraw the critical habitat from mining; uranium and zeolite are present in the area.

"The desert yellowhead is a unique biological treasure and a precious part of America's wild heritage," noted Molvar. The plant is a rare but visually striking member of the sunflower family restricted to a single known population in central Wyoming. It is considered to be the sole member of its genus, underscoring its substantial biological value. The yellowhead, discovered in 1990, is threatened by potential mining and oil and gas drilling, motorized vehicle use, and trampling by livestock. The extremely small size of the surviving populations makes the species particularly vulnerable to extinction.

Center for Native Ecosystems, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Wyoming Outdoor Council, and Biodiversity Legal Foundation had been forced to go to court to secure the original Endangered Species Act protection as well as this new critcal habitat protection. Attorneys with EarthJustice were instrumental in bringing the lawsuits necessary to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to follow through on listing and designating critical habitat.

For more information on the desert yellowhead and efforts to protect the plant and its habitat, visit www.nativeecosystems.org/desertyellowhead/.