Utah: Federal agency decides not to list species as endangered Multimedia file viewing and clickable links are available for registered members only!! You need to
or
!!
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has withdrawn the proposed rule to list the Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, the American Motorcyclist Association reports. The CPSD tiger beetle listing would have adversely affected off-highway vehicle use on existing OHV trails in Utah.
The AMA supports the designation of critical habitat when the land to be designated conforms to the criteria established by the ESA. However, this designation has been incorrectly applied in the past.
Under the ESA, only areas that are deemed “essential for species conservation” qualify for critical habitat designation. While the ESA fails to adequately define this phrase, it is clear the intent of the law is to allow the FWS to only designate lands as a critical habitat that are undeniably necessary for species conservation.
The proposed rule, now withdraw, stated, “the conservation committee agreed to expand Conservation Area A, which is already subject to management under a CCA [Candidate Conservation Agreement], and provide protected habitat islands for the species in the intervening dunes between Conservation Areas A and B as they are defined in the CCA.”
The AMA is still concerned the Conservation A and B habitat areas exceed the area that is absolutely necessary for species conservation. However, the FWS did recognize that “not all swales will be incorporated into Conservation A so that safe travel corridors can be maintained for off-highway vehicles within the CPSD feature.”
The AMA encourages ongoing vigilance because the FWS stated, “[f]uture shifting of dunes has the potential to restrict access such that ORV visitation would be expected to decrease.”
Pages: 1
