Category Archives: trout

Oil, Politics and Lizards

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The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday that the dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) would not be listed under the Endangered Species Act because voluntary conservation methods undertaken by private landowners in Texas and New Mexico have worked so well.

The most interesting thing about the dunes sagebrush lizard is that its habitat happens to be among the richest oil-producing regions in the lower-48 states. A listing would curtail drilling for oil and gas in the region, so it’s no surprise that the oil industry has fought against a federal listing for the lizard for decades.

Is the decision a victory for the oil industry? For conservation agreements? For the lizard?

That certainly depends on your point of view. You can see two different points of view on display in these articles. The Reuters report buries the information that environmental groups are unhappy with the ruling, and gives only a tepid quote from one of the organizations that disagrees. Read the Reuters piece here.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram puts environmentalists’ displeasure at the top of the story and includes a more forceful quote from the same source. Read the Star-Telegram report here.

A KXAN TV story provides some helpful details.

Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife

Where Trout Is In Doubt

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Girl, dad and rainbow trout

A paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last week says that climate change is bad news for all the trout species in the northern Rocky Mountains, with an average 47 percent decline in total suitable habitat in 70 years. That, the paper says, is because it’s not just the temperature that is changing. How much water flows in rivers and when is changing, as will greater problems from invasive species, such as those that are already keeping native cut-throat trout out of its native range.

The paper’s lead author is with Trout Unlimited, with other authors hailing from the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado State University,  U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, and the University of Washington, Seattle.

Read the synopsis of the paper on Science Now, here.

Read a newspaper article from the Idaho Statesman, here. And this blog entry on the Idaho Statesman Web site.

And finally, read the paper itself (open access) from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, here.

Photo: Rainbow trout are expected to suffer the least from reductions in suitable habitat due to climate change. Photo by Carl Zitzman, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Banning felt waders

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Maryland, Vermont, and Alaska are the first states to ban felt-bottomed fishing waders in an effort to slow the spread of the algae known as didymo, and other invasive species. (Well, the Alaskan ban doesn’t take effect until next year, but it is on the books.)

Idaho and Oregon tried to ban felt waders, but the legislation didn’t pass, reports this USA Today story on the wader ban. Nevada will consider a ban as part of an invasive species plan, the article says.

Missouri has taken another route. It is using wader washers at the state’s four trout parks. Read all about it in the Missouri Department of Conservation press release. Info about the wader wash stations is half-way down, below the list of phone numbers. One Ozark skeptic opines here, but gives many more details about Missouri’s attempt to slow didymo by educating anglers.

Photo: What’s on your waders? A biologist conducts a fisheries survey in Wyoming. Courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service