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Major Vernal Pool Species Victory!

BEC Lawsuit Adds Extra Protection

Under the terms of a settlement agreement approved Monday, July 23, 2001 by the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will map critical habitat for 15 endangered and threatened species that are dependent on vernal pool wetlands in California. The critical habitat designation will add further protection to California's remaining vernal pool habitat that has been decimated by urban development and agricultural expansion.

To provide some background, in 1995, the Butte Environmental Council (BEC) intervened in a lawsuit in support of the endangered and threatened listing status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of four shrimp species found in vernal pools. At that time, the Building Industry Association (BIA) was attempting to remove them from protected status through the courts. After repeatedly winning on the merits of the listing in favor of the shrimp, BEC sued the Service over a point initially brought forward by the BIA: the need to designate critical habitat for the species.

Under the ESA, critical habitat refers to specific geographic areas that are essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management considerations. Vernal pools, seasonal wetlands that fill with water during fall and winter rains, once dotted most of California's Central Valley and southern California coastal areas. The majority of the coastal southern California pools were destroyed before 1990. Biologists estimate that only about 10 percent of this unique habitat still exists in the entire state.

Unlike 95 percent of California's grasslands, which now contain mostly non-native Mediterranean grasses, vernal pools complexes harbor native California plants. In addition, the pools play a valuable role in the food chain for a wide array of animals, including birds of prey, migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, frogs, toads, salamanders, and pollinating insects. "This settlement agreement is an important step toward protecting the remaining wild vernal pool habitat in California," said Barbara Vlamis, BEC's Executive Director. "We are delighted that we could work cooperatively with the Service to settle the lawsuit in a way that enhances the preservation of these species in their stunning, native wetlands for future generations."

The species affected by this settlement include four species of fairy shrimp - the Conservancy fairy shrimp, longhorn fairy shrimp, vernal pool tadpole shrimp and vernal pool fairy shrimp; and eleven plants - the Butte County meadowfoam, hairy orcutt, slender orcutt, San Joaquin Valley orcutt, Sacramento orcutt, Solano grass, Greene's tuctoria, Colusa grass, succulent (or fleshy) owl's clover, Hoover's spurge, and Contra Costa goldfields. "The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is very excited by the prospect of improved management of these plants and the vernal pools that support them", said Sue Britting, President of CNPS. "Vernal pools are among the most beautiful and ecologically distinctive native ecosystems in California. They are also among the most threatened."

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of attorney Neil Levine of Earth Justice, this lawsuit was successfully negotiated into an expanded settlement six years after BEC's initial involvement. It is a true testament of the commitment of so many people to the protection of the wildlands in California.

This column originally appeared in July 2001 in the Chico Examiner.