guest commentary denver
By Erin Robertson
Political appointees in Washington keep gambling with Colorado's wildlife. Several Colorado wildlife species have been denied Endangered Species Act protection by a Department of Interior that routinely disregards good science to fit its agenda. Our wildlife suffers, private landowners bear a bigger burden to conserve these animals and conscientious government biologists become demoralized and resign when their input is suppressed. Coloradans and Americans deserve better. In adopting the Endangered Species Act, Congress said plainly that protection must be based solely on the best available science. But you wouldn't know that from the Interior Department's behavior, especially in Colorado. Consider the boreal toad. Even the most pristine Colorado mountain lakes haven't spared it from a disease sickening amphibians worldwide. By 1990, toads had disappeared from 83 percent of their historical sites in Colorado, and now only two viable populations remain. Last year, the Interior department refused to protect the toad under the act, claiming ambiguous genetics. The main genetic researcher was stunned: "Based on multiple data sets including genetics, I would say they are a different species," Anna Goebel said in 2005. Gunnison sage grouse scientists also were shocked this spring when Interior officials abruptly decided the grouse were doing fine. Once found throughout the sagebrush lands of southwestern Colorado, the grouse have disappeared from five counties since the 1990s, and only eight populations are left. The Interior Department claimed that protections weren't needed because grouse trends were stable and cited a flawed analysis even after an official reviewer stated it was "far too optimistic" and that the results were "unsupported." Even the Colorado Division of Wildlife wrote, "We feel this approach is inappropriate" and too optimistic. One particular political appointee at Interior has been associated with several tainted decisions. E-mails found by environmental groups during a lawsuit show that Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald ordered U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to reverse their findings on two of Colorado's prairie dog species. The service had determined that both the white-tailed prairie dog of northwestern Colorado and the Gunnison's prairie dog of the southwest might need protection, but MacDonald countermanded these decisions. The Preble's meadow jumping mouse's fate still hangs in the balance. The scientific community agrees that the jumping mouse is unique and needs protection, and the Department of Interior's own science panel reached the same conclusion this summer, but Interior has delayed the final decision on the mouse's status by four months now. Graham's penstemon's future will also be decided shortly. This gorgeous wildflower grows only in the oil shale areas of the Uinta Basin of Colorado and Utah and has been officially waitlisted for Endangered Species Act protection for 30 years. There are fears that Interior will drop it from the list, claiming no threats are present. Americans understand that plants and animals in trouble are a sign that something is out of balance. Protecting them helps keep our air, water and landscapes healthy for people, too. We are smart enough and creative enough to find ways to meet people's needs without driving other species extinct. Our society cannot afford to tolerate the manipulation and suppression of endangered species science. Many people have had enough. For example, San Miguel County has decided it is tired of the feds dodging their Gunnison sage grouse obligations, especially since private landowners can't do much about the drilling and mining that threaten the grouse. The county recently filed a lawsuit challenging Interior's decision. Straightening out the Department of the Interior's culture can't happen soon enough. Here's hoping that the new Congress will quickly help restore integrity to the management of our nation's most vulnerable wildlife. Erin Robertson is the staff biologist for the Center for Native Ecosystems, a nonprofit conservation group in Denver. |
