Feds host meeting on lynx habitat

Wenatchee World article on lynx habitat meeting with quotes from Conservation Northwest Science Director Dave Werntz.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday will answer questions and take comments in Twisp on a proposal to increase the acreage of critical habitat for Canada lynx in north-central Washington from 135 square miles to 2,000 square miles.

It's one of five areas that total 42,753 square miles under consideration for critical habitat designation nationwide to help protect the lynx, which is threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency is reconsidering its earlier habitat designation after allegations that Julie MacDonald, former deputy assistant secretary of the interior, interfered in the decisions. She resigned her position last year.

The lynx is a medium-sized cat that weighs from 18 to 23 pounds. Its habitat is in high-elevation forests in North Central Washington, including portions of the North Cascades National Park, the Loomis State Forest and the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. Critical habitat now proposed includes 1,831 square miles of federal land, 372 square miles of state land and five square miles of private land, located north and east of Lake Chelan and west of the Okanogan Valley, surrounding the Methow Valley and stretching north to the Canadian border.

Critical habitat identifies areas essential for the lynx to recover and be taken off the threatened list. Biologists say they don't expect the increase in critical habitat to change how the land is now being used.

"We don't expect it to have much impact," said Shawn Sartorius, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "They're already doing what they should be doing (to protect lynx). This is just another layer of protection."

But Dave Werntz, science and conservation director for Conservation Northwest, said the critical habitat designation means a biologist must be at the table when land use decisions are being made.

He said the new critical habitat for lynx is closer to what's needed to recover the species in Washington. "I think there's reason to be optimistic. This signals a return of the Fish and Wildlife Service to a tradition of relying on informed scientific opinion to guide their actions," he said.

However, he said, Conservation Northwest will ask the agency to add more critical habitat for lynx in the Kettle Range, east of the Okanogan Valley.

Werntz said his group and others raised concerns about the possibility that MacDonald tampered with the agency's decision on critical habitat for lynx. "We knew there were areas where lynx occur that had been identified by Fish and Wildlife biologists, but that had been excluded from the designation," he said, adding, "I think it's unprecedented to have political appointees undermine scientists when it comes to wildlife habitat and wildlife management," he said.

Werntz said the U.S. Inspector General is now investigating exactly how MacDonald interfered in endangered species decisions, including the lynx critical habitat designation.
That inquiry, he said, will include a thorough review of the spotted owl recovery plan and bulltrout critical habitat, other decisions that could affect North Central Washington.
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If you go
What: Public meeting on Canada lynx critical habitat
When: 6:30 to 8 p.m., Tuesday
Where: Methow Valley Community Center, 201 S. Methow Valley Highway, Twisp
Comments: Written and oral comments will be accepted at the meeting, or until April 28 they can be mailed to: Division of Policy and Directives Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222, Arlington, VA 22203, or submitted electronically through the federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.