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Transcript
PYGMY RABBIT PETITION CONTENTS I. Petitioners II. Executive Summary III. Nomenclature and Classification Characteristics of Lagomorphs and Leporids Taxonomic Status of the Pygmy Rabbit Washington Rabbits, Near Extinct in the Wild, Have Been Placed in Separate DPS IV. Description and Life History General Appearance Movement – Slow, Scampering Gait and Vulnerability in Open Areas The Pygmy Rabbit Has Limited Reproduction Potential Coprophagy Enhance Survival Under Stress Social Behavior and Interactions Periods of Activity V. Specialized Habitat Requirements Highly Specialized diet Specialized Summer Habitat Use Specialized Winter Habitat Use Additional Habitat Components Complex Structural Attributes of Big Sagebrush Habitats Specialized Energy Conservation Strategies for Coping with Extremes of High Desert Climates Specialized Soil Requirements for Burrows Specialized Burrow Locations and Characteristics Use of Specific Topographical Features Limited Home Range and Use Areas Broad Array of Avian and Mammalian Predators Extreme Habitat Specialization Summary of Specialization Limited Dispersal Ability Amplifies Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Increasingly Isolated Populations VI. Historical and Current Distribution in Areas of Concern and Documented Declines and Some Factors Causing Declines Historic Geographical Distribution Pygmy Rabbit Has Long Been on IUCN Red List Current Population Distribution and Declines Washington Montana Idaho Wyoming Utah Nevada California Oregon Summary of Rangewide Declines and Some Dispersal Barriers How Much Has the Range of the Pygmy Rabbit Contracted Due to Habitat Loss and Fragmentation The Pygmy Rabbit Meets All Five Criteria for ESA Listing VII. The Present or Threatened Destruction, Modification or Curtailment of Habitat and Range and Factors Affecting the Species Survival Evidence from ICBEMP and Other Sources Demonstrates the Extraordinary Loss and Degradation of Habitat Faced by the Pygmy Rabbit Upland Habitat Destruction and Alteration Rangewide Riparian Habitat and Interfacing and Bordering Big Sagebrush Communities Have Been Greatly Altered Rangewide Landscape Level Fragmentation Widespread Predicted Downward Trends in Big Sagebrush Habitats Rangewide Impacts of Dramatic Loss and Fragmentation of Sagebrush Habitats to Sagebrush-Obligate Species Dire ICBEMP Population Viability Prediction Separate ICBEMP Avian Analysis Further Demonstrates Shrub-Steppe Declines USFWS 2002 Analysis Identifies Many Shrub-Steppe Avian Species of Concern Settlement Impacts and Destruction of Sagebrush Habitats Unresilient Sagebrush Communities Are Now Shattered VIII. Factors causing Continued Modification and Curtailment of Habitat or Range and Threats to Species Survival Agricultural Expansion and Intensification Infringe on Big Sagebrush Habitats Increased Efficiency of Irrigation Removes Habitat and Corridors Water Projects – Dams, Reservoirs, Stock Ponds - Destroy Habitat and Are Barriers to Dispersal Exotic Species and Weeds Pose Alarming Threat to Pygmy Rabbit Habitats BLM Westwide Weed EIS Demonstrates Agency Failure to Address Causes of Alarming Weed Spread Cheatgrass Invasion of Sagebrush Communities Precludes Use by the Pygmy Rabbit Livestock Grazing Causes a Broad Array of Harmful and Ecologically Calamitous Impacts Often Down-played by Agencies Livestock Grazing Causes Behavioral Disturbance of Pygmy Rabbits Livestock Grazing Increases Pygmy Rabbit Vulnerability to Predation and/or Shifts Predator Balance with Unexpected Repercussions Livestock Trampling Compacts Soils and Alters Soil Structure at Burrow Sites Livestock Trampling Collapses Burrows and May Kill or Injure Pygmy Rabbits Livestock Grazing and Trampling Cause Widespread Erosion of Soils and Loss of Microbiotic Crusts Leading to Weed Invasion Livestock Grazing Destroys Composition of Big Sagebrush Communities Livestock Grazing Radically Alters Shrub Structure Livestock Fences Degrade and Fragment Upland Habitats and Aid Predators Livestock Water Developments Degrade and Destroy Pygmy Rabbit Habitats and Benefit Predators Water Hauling for Livestock Demolishes Pygmy Rabbit Habitats and Benefits Predators Livestock Wells and Pipelines Destroy Sagebrush –New Well Drilling Underway Riparian Fencing Shifts Intensive Livestock Use to Unresilient Sagebrush Uplands Placement of Salt and Mineral Supplements in Uplands Destroys Big Sagebrush Habitats Holistic Grazing/Intensive Herding Destroys Big Sagebrush Habitats Rest Rotation Grazing Schemes Flood Rabbit Habitats with Livestock Drought Exacerbates Livestock Grazing Impacts and Competition Fire Kills Pygmy Rabbits and Destroys Critical Sagebrush Habitats Fire Impacts - Montana Fire Impacts - Idaho Fire Impacts - Wyoming Fire Impacts - Utah Fire Impacts - Nevada Fire Impacts - California Fire Impacts - Oregon BLM Plans to Weaken NEPA and Project Review Escalating Agency Fire Plans and Vegetation Manipulation Threaten Big Sagebrush Habitats Juniper Increases in Big Sagebrush Sites Caused by Grazing Can Not Be “Treated” with Fire Without Killing Sagebrush and Opening Sites to Weed Invasions Increased Herbicide and Pesticide Use Looms for Sagebrush Wild Lands Land Disposal and BLM Proposal to Dispose of Surface Rights to Ranchers Powerlines Dissect Habitat, Provide Predator Perches, and Result in Predator Travel Corridors and Weed Expansion Roads Dissect Habitat, and Provide Weed and Predator Travel Corridors Road Improvement and Proliferation Intrudes on Big Sagebrush Habitats Exploding ORV Use on Public Lands Threatens Pygmy Rabbits and Critical Big Sagebrush Habitats Snowmobile Use Disturbs Winter Habitats Crushing Shrubs and Compacting Snow and Subnivian Tunnels Recreational Site Development Threatens Big Sagebrush Habitats Expanded Military Training Range Infrastructure and Extreme Noise and Disturbance Infringe on Big Sagebrush Habitats Hard Rock Mining Exploration, Development and Expansion Threaten Big Sagebrush Habitats Runaway Oil and Gas and Coal Bed Methane Exploration and Production Are Destroying Habitat and Pose Dire Threats to Wyoming Populations New Wind Power Boom and Energy Speculation Threatens Sagebrush Habitats Geothermal Exploration and Development Boom Threaten Pygmy Rabbit Habitats Fragmentation of Sagebrush Habitats is Accelerating Throughout the Range of the Pygmy Rabbit Due to All Preceding Activities and Disturbance Habitat Connectivity Has Been Severed, and Natural and Human-Caused Barriers Prevent Pygmy Rabbit Dispersal IX. Overutilization for Commercial, Recreational, Scientific or Educational Purposes Hunting Harms Populations at Low Levels Research Activities May Harm Populations at Low Levels Persecution of Rabbits by Ranchers and Farmers Impacts Populations X. Disease or Predation Disease Poses Serious Threats to Pygmy Rabbit Populations Predation May Impact Small Populations in Degraded and Altered Habitats Sagebrush Mortality Agents May Kill Essential Sagebrush Flooding May Kill Rabbits, Flood Burrows and Erode Deeper Soils XI. Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms Federal Efforts to Protect the Pygmy Rabbit Have Utterly Failed Federal Agencies Fail to Protect Special Status Species Habitats BLM Land Use Plans Are Woefully and Illegally Outdated Livestock Grazing Use Standards Are Known to Result in Harm to Sagebrush Communities – 50% or Higher Use is Routine No Agency Standards Measure or Mitigate Livestock Physical Damage to Sagebrush Habitats Enforcement of Grazing Use Standards is Very Lax BLM Analyses Routinely Ignore Valid Assessment of Habitats Limited Agency Budgets Result in General Neglect of Special Status Species BLM Decisionmaking Routinely Defies Agency Policy for Special Status Species and Ignores Science: Hawley Creek “Bunny Heaven” BLM Decisionmaking Processes Are Stalled, Protected or Thwarted by Livestock Interests So Environmental Harm Continues Habitat Needs of Aquatic ESA Species Trump Concerns for Sagebrush Uplands Narrow Scope of USFWS Bull Trout Critical Habitat and Recovery Plan Threatens Even More Shifting of Grazing Impacts to Pygmy Rabbit Upland Habitats Agencies Blatantly Disregard Needs of Sagebrush Obligate Species Harmful Single Species Management Mindset Plagues Agency Planning Efforts and Actions Long-Standing Range Profession Biases Against Big Sagebrush Have Gained New Momentum with Current Agency Fire and Vegetation Manipulation Frenzy Agency Failure to Restore Burned Lands Threatens Recovery Of Native Sagebrush Habitats Chronic and Unalleviated Livestock Degradation and Destruction of Sagebrush Wild Lands Continues Uncontrolled Throughout the Range of the Pygmy Rabbit BLM Fails to Designate Areas of Critical Environmental Concern to Protect Critical Sagebrush Habitats Land Managers and Some Researchers Fail to Forthrightly Acknowledge and Address Livestock Grazing Harms Federal Wild Land Fire Management Policy Threatens Sagebrush Habitats National Energy Policy Accelerates Energy Activities That Destroy and Fragment Big Sagebrush Habitats Management of Protected Areas with Recent Pygmy Rabbits Populations is Incompatible with Pygmy Rabbit Habitat Needs DOE-INEEL Sagebrush Steppe Reserve Fails to Protect 60% of Lands from Intensive Livestock Grazing USFWS Sheldon-Hart National Refuge is Rapidly Burning Up Critical Big Sagebrush Habitats Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area Suffers from Ill-regulated Grazing, and Fire and Weeds State Efforts Have Been Ineffective or Nonexistent Conservation Status of the Pygmy Rabbit XII. Other Natural or Human-Caused Factors Affecting the Species Continued Existence Many Facets of Intraspecific and Interspecific Competition Impact Pygmy Populations Competition with Other Pygmy Rabbits for Food or Space Competition with Other Native Species for Food or Space Competition with Exotic Species for Food or Space Predator killing as a Result of Livestock Presence May Upset Natural Balances and Increase Predation Impacts Predator Killing Avoids Addressing Habitat Loss and Destruction XIII. Severe Population Level Impacts of Habitat Loss, Degradation and Fragmentation of Big Sagebrush Habitats Environmental Stochasticity and Catastrophic Events Effect Extinction Risk of Pygmy Rabbit Populations Variable High Desert Sagebrush Environment Increases Extinction Risk Perils of Low or Depressed Population Size: Demographic and Genetic Stochasticity Increases Extinction Risk Vulnerability of Pygmy Rabbit Populations to Extirpation Other Factors Affecting Population Viability and Fitness Pygmy Rabbit Biological Traits and Extremely Specialized Habitat Characteristics Increase Extinction Risk Pygmy Rabbits May Now Exist Primarily in Peripheral Habitats and Populations Importance of Geographically Peripheral Populations Population Cyclicity Habitat Degradation, Fragmentation, Barriers and Landscape Effects Landscape Level Protection and Immediate Management Change Is Critical Importance of Maintaining All Current Populations Discovery of Any More Larger Populations Is Very Unlikely Perils of Reintroductions of Captive Rabbits XIV. Critical Habitat Designation Requested to Protect Pygmy Rabbits in the Intermountain and Great Basin Region from Extinction XV. Benefits of ESA Listing XVI. Emergency Listing May Be Warranted XVII. Conclusion Pygmy Rabbit Petition Bibliography
