The Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild), and Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) have filed suit against the California Departments of Forestry (CDF) and Fish and Game (DF&G) for approving logging of crucial habitat for the newly discovered Scott Bar salamander. The species was first described in May of 2005 and has one of the smallest ranges of any salamander.
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However, the DF&G informed industrial timber companies that because the Scott Bar salamander is a new species, protections afforded to the rare salamanders would cease. The CDF has since approved amendments to at least four timber harvest plans
(THPs) allowing logging of Scott Bar salamander habitat. Amendments to the THPs were approved without public notice or comment.
EPIC's Timber Harvest Monitor, Lindsey Holm, paraphrasing Shakespeare, quipped, "A rare species by any other name is still threatened with extinction."
DF&G is moving to delist the Siskiyou Mountains salamander under the state Endangered Species Act. This move has been sharply criticized by the primary experts. Forest Service scientist Dr. Hartwell Welsh concluded that "interpretation of the science" used by the state game agency to support delisting was "seriously flawed."
In filing suit, the groups hope to ensure additional protections for the Scott Bar salamander, give the public a voice in the management decisions for such a rare species, and hold the agencies accountable for their actions.
For additional information contact Lindsay Holm at 707/476-8340, or through www.wildcalifornia.org.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Spring 2006