Will The Task Force Survive?

jaguarhabitatusa — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 01:35:48 +0000

A key official at the Southwest regional official of the US Fish and Wildlife Service said that she and her staff will “bow out completely from this effort…due to restructuring as a result of budget constraints.”

Worse still, the agency’s top official in Arizona said that connectivity conservation for endangered carnivores of the Southwest isn’t close to the top among priorities. Wow!

Still, we are going to do everything possible to resuscitate the Connectivity Conservation Task Force; so far it’s the only game in town for protecting critical habitat linkages for jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot here in Arizona and New Mexico.

Challenge the US Fish and Wildlife Service to Protect Jaguar Habitat

jaguarhabitatusa — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:33:40 +0000

The federal government has just made a substantial investment to the tune of $771,000 for a 3-year project to study jaguar presence in Arizona and New Mexico. Yet the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the lead agency, claims there is no money to protect vanishing habitat connectivity for the region’s jaguar, Mexican wolf, and other endangered wildlife. Astoundingly, a top official says that “frankly this isn’t real close to the top” in terms of agency priorities.

Not a high priority! How can this be? Every conservationist knows that the jaguar and other wildlife face a huge habitat fragmentation crisis. Without protection for habitat corridors and linkages there can be no restoration of jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot populations in the Southwest.

Some organizations and individuals are struggling to address this habitat crisis. For example, a new “wildlife linkages group” is underway in Cochise County, AZ, where are jaguar was recently sighted. But such groups are simply overwhelmed and under-resourced. And time is running out, as critical habitat continues to fall victim to our ongoing loss of open space lands.

Here’s how visitors to this website can help:

1) Sign our latest petition to the US Fish and Wildlife Service calling for habitat protection for wild carnivores of the US Southwest; and/or,

2) Write a personal letter to the Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service using our letter as a model.

Our letter, dated December 8, 2011, is as follows:

Daniel M. Ashe, Director

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240

RE: Support for Connectivity Conservation in the US Southwest – Reply Requested

Dear Director Ashe:

Please provide staff and resources in Arizona and New Mexico for on-the-ground protection of habitat corridors and linkages for the endangered jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot.

Habitat fragmentation is a huge problem in these states. To be sure, recovery goals for these species cannot be met unless habitat connectivity is protected.

US Fish and Wildlife Service officials in the region say that they do not have staff and resources to address this problem. And a top Service official recently remarked that “frankly this [connectivity conservation] isn’t real close to the top” in terms of agency priorities. These circumstances must change.

Your agency has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars toward research and recovery planning for endangered carnivores of the Southwest. This investment will go for naught if fragmentation of habitat needed for the recovery of these species continues.

Other federal agencies, local and state governments, and the private sector cannot protect regional habitat connectivity without the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a leading partner.

Kindly reply to this letter, indicating what resources your agency will apply toward ending habitat fragmentation and conserving habitat connectivity for jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot in Arizona and New Mexico.

Sincerely,

Tony Povilitis, Ph.D.

Director

REPORT CARD for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Fall 2011

jaguarhabitatusa — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:07:28 +0000

On Efforts to Recover the Southwest Jaguar

It’s the job of the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to restore the nation’s endangered wildlife. So how well is it doing with the jaguar? In April 2010 we offered the Service a set of recommendations for bringing back the jaguar. The “Citizens’ Statement” was endorsed by nearly 1,000 individuals and organizations.

Here’s our report on each of the recommendations (the grading scale is A, excellent; B, good; C, fair; D, poor; and F, failing):

#1. Protect habitat linkages. Grade: D
We asked that the Service begin a comprehensive effort with counties, highway departments, public land managers, private landowners, conservation organizations, and others to ensure that “travel corridors” for the jaguar are protected.

In November 2010, Service officials in Arizona and New Mexico accepted a field trip invitation to inspect threatened habitat corridors in southern Arizona considered vital for the jaguar. Since then officials have collaborated with conference-call discussions on protecting habitat linkages for jaguar as well as the endangered Mexican wolf and ocelot. The exchange of ideas and information is proving useful, but no serious staff time or resources on the part of the Service are being devoted to the task. In FWS policy circles there’s been a lot of talk and proclamations about the need for what is called connectivity conservation, but these have yet to yield on-the-ground work to protect linkage habitat for jaguar and the other wild carnivores of the Southwest. For now we give the Service a “D” as opposed to a failing grade hoping that concerns and words may soon be followed by concrete conservation actions.

#2. Conserve our wild lands. Grade: D
We asked the Service to lead a concerted effort to protect the integrity of “core habitat areas” for the jaguar. Wild land areas as well as habitat linkages needed for jaguar recovery in the U.S. should receive special conservation attention by the Service as “critical habitat.”

There is still no overall plan to safeguard habitat for the jaguar in the Southwest (the jaguars was officially listed as an endangered species of the US in 1997). Yet threats to jaguar habitat are tremendous and growing, as noted elsewhere on this website. Threats range from urban sprawl and highway construction to proposals for extensive hardrock mining and power transmission networks. The Service needs to develop a comprehensive strategy for conserving jaguar habitat in collaboration with other agencies and the private sector. We are hopeful that the Service, which is now preparing a formal recovery plan for the jaguar, may do so. After more than a decade of delays, a proposal identifying critical jaguar habitat and measures to protect it is promised by spring 2012.

#3. Ensure that jaguars can roam freely between the US and Mexico. Grade: F
We recommended that the Service engage the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in recovery planning to limit barrier fencing and avoid construction sites and high intensity activities in areas that may be traversed by jaguars.

The Service has not been an effective advocate for reducing the harm to jaguars and other wildlife from US-Mexico fence barriers. Some might argue that it can’t stick its neck out politically on this one. But its parent agency, the US Department of Interior, could not even secure the tens of millions of dollars allocated by Congress to mitigate or compensate for harmful border impacts, as most of that money slipped away in the last appropriations bill. Those funds that were available were not used to allow jaguars and other wildlife to move freely through key habitat areas, or to purchase conservation lands or easements for jaguar near the border. Money available for jaguar in Arizona was earmarked to “survey and monitor jaguars and their habitat.” What upsidedown priorities! The Service should focus more on protecting habitat (before it’s gone) and less on more field studies (the easy route politically). In Texas at least, the Service requested about fence 100 openings for wildlife, and these, however small, were incorporated into the fence…But not in Arizona, home of America’s last wild jaguars.

#4. Pursue joint recovery efforts with Mexico. Grade: C
We encouraged the Service to propose an international conservation area for the borderlands that would protect the jaguar and other wildlife while enhancing relations and security between our two countries.

The Service has put together a Jaguar Recovery Team that includes biologists from Mexico as well as the U.S. The goal is to produce a binational recovery plan for the jaguar, a species long part of the deserts and mountains of both the southern U.S. and northern Mexico. We hope the plan will include recommendations for a bi-national park or biosphere reserve. Private efforts by the US-based Northern Jaguar Project and the Mexican conservation organization Naturalia have thus far lead the way with purchase of lands for a 45,000 acre Jaguar Reserve not far from the US border (with contributions from many sources, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act). U.S. and Mexican wildlife agencies together should seize the opportunity to expand the vision and scope of this effort.

#5. Develop the option to rebuild jaguar numbers and range through reintroduction. Grade: None yet.

We asked the Service to fully consider reintroduction if natural migration of jaguars from Mexico, particularly females, appears unlikely in the foreseeable future.

We trust that this important option to help reestablish the jaguar in the U.S. will be fully and fairly evaluated in the forthcoming jaguar recovery plan.

#6. Act now. Grade: D
We called upon the Service to provide extraordinary leadership and move with utmost urgency in developing and implementing a jaguar recovery program.

The good news is that the Service now has recovery planning for the jaguar underway, albiet forced by a court decision in 2009.
But it remains to be seen whether the agency fully embraces the concept of restoring the jaguar to the US, and carries out with a sense of urgency necessary steps as outlined in the Citizens’ Statement.

OVERALL GRADE: D

There’s need for improvement!

Conservation Task Force Begins!

jaguarhabitatusa — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:14:51 +0000

Connectivity Conservation Task Force for Endangered Carnivores of the Southwest: On June 21, Dr. Tony Povilitis of the JHC met via conference call with officials of the US Fish & Wildlife Service to launch the Task Force. Members of the jaguar and Mexican wolf recovery teams and a county natural resource official also participated. We agreed to advance on-the-ground collaborative conservation of wildlife linkages relevant to endangered carnivore recovery. This is a huge and necessary challenge that involves effectively working (depending on area) with: county officials, private landowners, state land management agencies, state departments of transportation, the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the US Army (e.g., Fort Huachuca, AZ), the Federal Highway Administration, the Western Governors Association, the Department of Homeland Security (in connection with wildlife corridors between the U.S. and Mexico) among others. There are some 20 wildlife habitat linkages important for endangered jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot in the region. The Task Force will have to align the resources (people and money) needed to meet this challenge. The US Fish & Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for endangered species recovery in America, needs to gear up for this. For now, an immediate task force goal is to contact and begin work with county planners and conservation minded-people on a county-by-county basis, specifically by triggering corridor conservation workshops that address the areas important for endangered carnivore recovery. Check back for future updates!

Task Force Needed To Protect Vital Habitat for Wild Carnivores

jaguarhabitatusa — Sat, 07 May 2011 21:46:59 +0000

: Jaguars need safe “habitat linkages” when moving between primary living areas.

Dr. Tony Povilitis, who directs the Jaguar Habitat Campaign, is working to close a huge gap in conservation efforts for the U.S. Southwest. Despite agency initiatives* intended to help wildlife move through an increasingly “developed” (de-naturalized) landscape in the American West, none have focused on the urgent need to stem the loss of habitat connectivity for three highly endangered wild carnivores of the Southwest – jaguar, Mexican wolf, and ocelot. This salient conservation gap exists despite the fact that all three animals now have federal recovery plans ongoing or underway to restore them as wild populations. The time for on-the-ground conservation work – through a special task force led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (the agency directly responsible for the nation’s endangered wildlife and for species recovery) – is now. Not next year, not in 2015 or some other far away date, but now! Habitat in Arizona and New Mexico, home to these species, is being shredded every year by urbanization, expanding agriculture, energy development projects, new mining projects, highway projects, etc. Key remaining open space areas must be protected through a focused, concerted effort by local, state, and federal agencies, private landowners, and conservation groups, guided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. If you, detect some impatience in these words you’re not off the mark. After literally decades of meetings, deliberations, studies, and plans for conserving these endangered species there is still no on-the-ground action to protect vital habitat linkages for them in Arizona and New Mexico. A simple drive tour around southeastern Arizona, for example, makes obvious the urgency of this matter!

See Proposed Connectivity Conservation Task Force5-11

* Examples include:

Western Governors Association Initiative on Wildlife Corridors and Crucial Habitat

Arizona Wildlife Linkages Workgroup

Jaguar Campaign Calls for urgent Habitat Task Force

jaguarhabitatusa — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 22:22:53 +0000

Good News: US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) officials accepted our invitation for an on-the-ground “cat’s eye” view of what’s happening to habitat for the jaguar in southern Arizona. We surveyed eight habitat linkages during the two day trip (Dec. 2-3, 2010). Steve Spangle, USFWS field supervisor, Service biologists Wendy Brown and Erin Fernandez, and Dave Parsons, former Mexican wolf recovery coordinator, joined Tony Povilitis, JHC director.

After the trip, Tony Povilitis emailed Steve Spangle calling for a special Task Force to immediately begin protecting habitat important to the endangered jaguar and also Mexican wolf and ocelot. See his email below.

Dave Parsons, Erin Fernandez, Steve Spangle, and Wendy Brown viewing what remains of open country in lower Sulphur Springs Valley, Cochise County.

A huge parcel of grassland habitat up for sale in the key wildlife corridor between the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains, Sulphur Springs Valley. Without an all-out effort to save what's left of our precious open spaces, vital habitat areas such as this may soon be lost to development.

To: Steve Spangle
Cc: Wendy_Brown; Erin_Fernandez; Dave Parsons
Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 1:14:03 PM
Subject: Task Force for Connectivity

Dear Steve,

I want to thank you, Erin Fernandez, and Wendy Brown of the regional USFWS office for joining Dave Parsons and me on the field survey of habitat linkages for jaguar and other wildlife in southeastern Arizona, December 2-3. Among the more salient observations were the limited acreage of undeveloped terrain remaining between certain mountain ranges (e.g. Tumacacori Highlands-Santa Rita Mountains) and the continuing conservation challenges posed by highways (e.g. construction of the new Marsh Station Road interchange along the Cienega drainage at Interstate-10). The vulnerability of habitat to further development absent conservation planning was evident throughout the trip. Subsequent to our survey, I found that 60,000 acres of topographically diverse grasslands are up for sale in the swath of remaining open country we viewed in Sulphur Springs Valley between the Chiricahua and Dragoon mountain ranges.

The concern I expressed to your agency about fragmentation of habitat for jaguar in Arizona and New Mexico dates back to the jaguar listing petition that my students and I submitted to USFWS in 1992 and a subsequent critical habitat request in 1999. More recently, in Conservation Biology (2006) and elsewhere, Dave, I, and others have emphasized the need for landscape-level conservation in the Sky Island region for recovery of Mexican gray wolf as well as jaguar. Linkages for wild carnivores have since been identified, with some evaluated in full detail (e.g., by Paul Beier at Northern Arizona University ).

From the discussions we had during our field trip, I sensed agreement that connectivity conservation for wide ranging endangered wildlife should be a priority. I want to again urge that, under USFWS leadership, a specific task force be created to quickly address the matter. I offer this suggestion in earnest given that 1) connectivity conservation is essential to jaguar, Mexican Wolf, and ocelot conservation, 2) USFWS recovery planning for jaguar, in its early stages, cannot be expected to yield on-the-ground habitat conservation anytime soon, 3) habitat fragmentation slowed during the current economic slowdown nevertheless continues and will accelerate with economic recovery, 4) key habitat linkages are at high risk of being irreversibly lost; and 5) past and ongoing approaches to species conservation have proven inadequate to protect landscape connectivity.

A Connectivity Conservation Task Force (CCTF) for endangered wild carnivores of the Southwest would consist of biologists and land conservation managers and planners from federal and state agencies, counties, academia, and the private sector. CCTF would identify and pursue opportunities for protecting linkages, help build agency and stakeholder support, and, in collaboration with species recovery teams, maintain a connectivity conservation database to track results.

CCTF would provide a specific mechanism for achieving in a timely fashion and for a specific geographic area connectivity conservation for multiple endangered species. It would be also help achieve the broader goals of the Western Governors Association’s initiative on wildlife corridors, the Arizona Wildlife Linkages Workgroup, and the new Landscape Conservation Cooperatives of the U.S. Department of Interior. With USFWS approval and leadership, I am confident that CCTF could be up and running in a matter of months, and that funding can be found quickly to support its work.

Significant outcomes for conservation are usually achieved when a group of dedicated, well-focused individuals address an outstanding need or concern. I would be happy to assist you and others with USFWS in launching the proposed CCTF.

Sincerely,

Tony Povilitis, Ph.D.

Proposal Summary:

Connectivity Conservation Task Force (CCTF) for endangered carnivores of the Southwest

Description: A task force working to stem habitat fragmentation and secure connectivity at the landscape level for endangered carnivores of Arizona and New Mexico (jaguar, ocelot, Mexican wolf) through collaboration with relevant recovery teams, agencies, and stakeholders.

Purpose: To provide leadership with appropriate scientific, planning, and implementation expertise to expeditiously address conservation connectivity for endangered carnivore recovery.

Composition:

A decision maker with the US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) linked to carnivore recovery teams

Coordinator(s) to set CCTF work schedule, arrange communications, process information and lead in pursuit of CCTF and associated project funding

Persons effective on conservation matters with: a) land management agencies; b) county planning; c) landowners and the general public; and d) transportation and border security agencies

Connectivity conservation scientists

US Fish and Wildlife Service invited to survey habitat destruction

jaguarhabitatusa — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:05:46 +0000

Urban sprawl and loss of jaguar habitat in Arizona

Does the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fully understand what is happening to habitat for the jaguar, Mexican wolf, ocelot, and other wide-ranging endangered species of the Southwest? Why isn’t it moving with a sense of urgency to protect vital habitat areas besieged by runaway urban sprawl, reckless energy development projects, large-scale surface mining, expansive border fencing, and other threats?

Dr. Tony Povilitis has invited Mr. Brian Millsap, assistant regional director, and other agency decision makers on a field trip in southern Arizona to view first-hand the ongoing destruction of jaguar habitat. “We cannot wait any longer for the US Fish & Wildlife Service to take action to protect what is left of jaguar habitat,” said Dr. Povilitis upon sending the invitation (see 2nd page of his letter to Mr. Millsap, June 24, 2010). “The time to act is now!”

In January 2010, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agreed after many years of delay to designate for protection critical habitat for jaguars, but the process is slow and could be hampered by bureaucratic delays. Povilitis hopes that Service officials will quickly adopt interim measures to protect vital habitat linkages, upon seeing first hand how quickly they are being destroyed.

US Fish and Wildlife Service to authorize more jaguar captures

jaguarhabitatusa — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:22:02 +0000

Macho B in snare before his death

The US Fish and Wildlife Service says that it intends to allow the Arizona Game and Fish Department to again capture jaguars (see letter), despite the agency’s gross negligence and related criminal activity in the death of the Arizona jaguar known as Macho B in 2009. The draft permit would not prevent another Macho B tragedy and would allow using snares (like the one in the photo) in an area where jaguars may occur.

We responded immediately, pointing out these problems and the absurdity of issuing a research permit to capture jaguars to a state wildlife agency with such a dismal record.

US Fish & Wildlife Service reply: What’s good, what’s not, what’s next?

jaguarhabitatusa — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:36:34 +0000

The US Fish & Wildlife Service has responded to the Citizens’ Statement of Support for Jaguar Recovery in the United States. The statement has already garnered over 350 direct endorsements from residents and visitors to the U.S. Southwest (plus more than 500 sign-ons to an online petition). It was presented to the Service on Earth Day, April 22, 2010, at a jaguar rally in Phoenix.

What’s good:

The US Fish & Wildlife Service said it will:

* Create a bi-national recovery team for the jaguar, consisting of scientists and “implementation partners.” This agrees with Citizens’ Statement Point #4, that is, to work with Mexico to recover the northern jaguar population in the U.S. and northern Mexico.

* Have the recovery team develop a Jaguar Recovery Plan (confirming the Service’s January 2010 announcement).

* Determine what areas in the U.S. “are appropriate to propose as critical habitat” for the jaguar, based on the best information available (see our recommendations).

What’s not:

* The Service did not clarify whether it is fully committed to re-establishing the jaguar in a significant part of the its historic range in the U.S., which included the Southwest and Texas.

* The Service did not give any timeframe for getting work done, saying only that “a proposed timeline for the critical habitat is undergoing review and approval by the Acting Director of the Service.” We’ve been asking the agency to move with utmost urgency in developing and implementing a jaguar recovery program, which is 13 years overdue (Citizens’ Statement Point #6). Despite our Earth Day request, the Service did not give target dates for assembling a jaguar recovery team, recovery plan development, or beginning work to protect essential jaguar habitat.

* The Service was for the most part silent on key Citizens’ Statement recommendations, including the need to protect core habitat areas and connecting habitat linkages. There was no sense of urgency in the Service’s reply, despite severe and increasing threats to jaguar habitat from urban sprawl, energy development projects, large-scale surface mining, and border fence construction.

What’s Next:

We need to be sure that the US Fish & Wildlife Service moves forward promptly with a genuine recovery program for the jaguar. A healthy dose of skepticism at this point is justified given the agency’s past failures to undertake jaguar recovery, and considering that some key agency officials who once opposed a jaguar program are still in charge of decision-making.

Specifically, jaguar advocates must insist that:

1) Recovery efforts in the U.S. cover a significant portion of the jaguar’s historic range, not just a limited area along the border as one Service official recently suggested. The endangered northern jaguar (currently with only 120 or so individuals in nearby Sonora, Mexico, and few in the U.S.) cannot be recovered as a wholesome wild population without reoccupying former range in Arizona and New Mexico.

2) The forthcoming recovery team consists of scientists and other “implementing partners” who are fully committed to the concept of jaguar recovery in the U.S. Given its awful track record (failure to live up to promises, the Macho B fiasco, etc.), the Arizona Game and Fish Department is not yet committed. Unless it declares support for jaguar recovery and provides new leadership, the state agency should not be on the recovery team (we are concerned since the Service’s reply to us was copied to an individual in the AGFD who has consistently opposed key steps for jaguar recovery in the U.S.).

3) A time frame for jaguar recovery actions is established soon. Unless pushed, Service may fail to make jaguar recovery a priority, and thus the jaguar runs the risk of waiting years before a program is implemented, while its precious habitat continues to disappear.

URGENT Please email the US Fish and Wildlife Service

jaguarhabitatusa — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:18:32 +0000

May 2010

Dear Friends,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington DC is about to decide whether to begin a program to restore the jaguar within its former range in the United States.

Please request that it does so.

Contact:

Mr. Rowan W. Gould, Acting Director, USFWS Rowan_Gould@fws.gov

and

Mr. Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Endangered Species Gary_Frazer@fws.gov

An example of a brief email is shown below.

Here’s wishing you a most meaningful Endangered Species Day, May 21,

Tony Povilitis, Ph.D.

Example email:

Dear Mr. Rowan Gould and Mr. Gary Frazer,

Please begin a recovery program promptly to restore the jaguar to the United States. Historically, jaguars occurred in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with records as far east as Virginia.

Kindly notify me as to your decision.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME