Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Feds propose protections for rare Jemez salamander

A rare salamander found only in northern New Mexico would be added to the federal endangered species list under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The plan highlights questions about how many Jemez Mountain salamanders still exist following back-to-back years of wildfire, drought and other changes to their moist, forested habitat. Researchers with the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy spent the last three weeks in the Jemez Mountains using a team of specially trained dogs to sniff out populations of the salamanders in an effort to learn more about what makes them tick. "Salamanders are ancient creatures, but we don't know if they've been in the Jemez Mountains for 10,000 years or 100,000 years," said Anne Bradley, forest conservation program manager for The Nature Conservancy. "We don't really know what kind of environments the salamander has experienced over its evolutionary history to know how it is adapting to these changes that we're seeing now," she said. Dependent on moisture in the air and soil, the salamanders breathe through their skin and spend much of their lives underground. One of the chief threats facing the lung-less amphibian is the combination of an overgrown forest and the likelihood of severe wildfire, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Aside from the proposed listing, the agency is suggesting setting aside more than 140 square miles in three New Mexico counties as critical habitat for the salamander...more

"One of the chief threats facing the lung-less amphibian is the combination of an overgrown forest and the likelihood of severe wildfire"

 In other words, the Forest Service is the chief threat to the salamander.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The green idiots used the salamander to shut down logging in the Jemez, not what will they use it for? Maybe holding up a slalmander will make it rain?