The Endangered Species Act turns 40 next year and all this week we’ll be taking a look at it’s affect on the wildlife…and people…of New Mexico.
It’s a conversation that can really only start in one place: with a little fish so…well, basic, that even its most dedicated caretakers are a little short on thrilling adjectives.
YOU KNOW, THE FIN LENGTH IS THIS BIG, THE EYE IS LARGER THAN, THE SCALES ARE LIKE…BUT IN GENERAL ITS JUST A LITTLE GRAY FISH ABOUT THREE INCHES LONG.
But as KUNM’s Sidsel Overgaard reports, the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow, perhaps more than any other species in New Mexico, has come to represent the power…and limitations…of the Endangered Species Act.
Rebecca Houtman who you heard just before, may not be under any illusion about the silvery minnow’s star appeal. But as curator of the Biopark’s Aquatic Conservation Facility, it’s understandable that she’d be a little defensive of her charges…
IT’S EASY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BIG CHARISMATIC, FUZZY MAMMAL SPECIES THAT YOU SEE ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AND MAKE FOR GREAT FILM. BUT CONSERVATION IS A LARGER CONCEPT AND SO YOU’RE EITHER FOR CONSERVATION OR YOU’RE NOT… ALL SPECIES ARE SIGNIFICANT, WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN RELATE DO THEM AND GET ALL WARM AND FUZZY OVER WATCHING THEM REAR THEIR YOUNG (laughs)
Which is exactly what Houtman does…
SO THESE ARE BROOD STOCK SILVERY MINNOW. THESE WERE CAPTURED AS JUVENILE SILVERY MINNOW FROM THE RIVER IN 2010…
Houtman points to a cylindrical tank where thousands of minnows dart in circles… occasionally, sending out a flash of silvery light.
WE HAVE BROOD STOCK ON HAND IN PART AS A REFUGE POPULATION, IN CASE THERE’S A CATASTOPHE IN THE WILD, THERE IS A PLACE WHERE THERE ARE SILVERY MINNOWS S THEY WOULD NOT BE EXINCT…
The program also aims to increase genetic diversity through egg capture and captive breeding at a cost of $400 thousand dollars a year… all with the hope that someday, the Endangered Species Act will make it all irrelevant (SOUND FADES) as the minnow regains its footing…er, finning…in the wild.
WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROTECTS SPECIES AS SURRAGATES TO THEIR HABITATS.
Michelle Shaunessey with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southwest Region.
IN THE FIRST SECTION OF THE LAW IT ACTUALLY TALKS ABOUT PRESERVING ECOSYSTEMS WHICH SPECIES DEPEND UPON, SO THAT’S SORT OF THE INTENT BEHIND THE LAW.
When a species is listed, the US Fish and Wildlife Service designates certain areas as critical habitat…in this case, the Middle Rio Grande.
Then, agencies with an interest in that area have to tell Fish and Wildlife how their actions will affect the species. Fish and Wildlife then issues what’s essentially a yay (DING DING!) or nay (BUZZER) in the form of a Biological Opinion.
In the silvery minnow situation there are 16– yes 16—interested parties working through a new Biological Opinion process right now, as the current one expires next year. And THIS is what many people say the Endangered Species Act does best.
(MICHELLE) IT PROVIDES A PLATFORM FOR GETTING EVERYONE TO THE TABLE…
{CHORUS OF TWO other VOICES) TO BRING FOLKS/PEOPLE TOGETHER
(THIRD VOICE) IT’S NOT MEANT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE’RE GOING TO BRING A STRONG ARM DOWN ON YOU. IT’S MEANT TO SAY, HOW DO WE WORK THIS OUT. (do I need to ID that last person?)
(SOUND OF PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT IN MEETING ROOM) Of course, plopping people down around a table and getting them to do anything are two very different things… And this is where people start to disagree about the ESA’s effectiveness as a management tool.
Discussions at meetings of the so-called Collaborative Program are technical…
QUITE A LOT OF THIS IS DRIVEN BY THE POPULATION MONITORING, AND THE C-P-U-E OR WHATEVER IT IS WE’RE GOING TO USE…
The big question of exactly how much water has to be in the river, when, and for how can end in scientific discord. And that’s not to mention the looming question of who’s going to give up when it really comes down to the wire.
It’s nit picky stuff. But, says Jim Wilber, it works.
THE SILVERY MINNOW IS DOING WELL.
Wilber is with the Bureau of Reclamation, the agency that, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, sits at the head of the table.
IT FLUCTUATES A LOT, BUT I BELIEVE THE SILVERY MINNOW IS DOING BETTER NOW THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO, IN THE LATE 90S. AND THE IRRIGATION USERS AND THE MUNICIPAL USERS HAVE GOTTEN THE WATER THEY NEEDED. SO I THINK IT’S BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH ALL OF ITS CHALLENGES AND BUREAUCRACY.
But Wilber admits that even as the program now attempts to shift its focus from survival of the minnow to its recovery…progress will be incremental.
WITH ALL THAT’S AT STAKE WITH THE LIVELIHOOD OF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN THE VALLEY, THE RIO GRANDE BEING THE LIFE BLOOD BOTH FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE ECOSYSTEM AND THE FISH…CHANGE IS REALLY DIFFICULT.
And that’s a big reason why many environmentalists have thrown up their hands in frustration, calling the Collaborative Program- quote- “one of the more nonfunctioning groups in the history of the ESA.”
I DON’T THINK THE ACT REALLY HAS PROVEN TO FORCE ANYBODY TO DO ANYTHING THEY DIDN’T WANT TO DO.
One of those people is Steve Harris, Executive Director of Rio Grande Restoration.
PEOPLE IN THE COLLABORATIVE PROGRAM, PARTICIPATE SO THEY CAN PROTECT THEIR INTERESTS. THAT’S A NATURAL RESISTANCE TO THE KIND OF FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE THAT I THINK WOULD LEAD TO TRUE RECOVERY.
Harris says one major improvement would be to put Fish and Wildlife at the head of the table, instead of the water managers who sit there now….even while acknowledging it may not be a comfortable role for that agency.
ALMOST EVERYBODY I KNOW OVER THERE IS A BIOLGOIST, SO THEY’RE NOT INHERENTLY POLICY MAKERS, NOR ARE THEY SKILLED IN DIFFICULT POLITICAL MANEUVERS. YOU KNOW, THEY DIDN’T READ MACHIAVELLI LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE.
But Harris predicts that if the current drought continues without some major changes aimed at water conservation, the Middle Rio Grande could be headed for a standoff akin to the Klamath Falls situation in 2001.
NPR: IN SOUTHERN OREGON, THERE’S A BATTLE OVER WATER. STRUGGLING FARMERS IN KLAMATH FALLS ARE LOCKED IN A DISPUTE WITH FEDERAL WATER REGULATORS. THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN WITHHOLDING IRRIGATION WATER THIS YEAR IN ORDER TO PROTECT ENDANGERED FISH SPECIES. THOSE WHO DEPEND….
But head of the Interstate Stream Commission, Estevan Lopez, says the whole point of the Collaborative Program has been to avoid exactly that kind of conflict by getting farmers, cities and conservationists to work together toward a mutually beneficial Biological Opinion.
I DON’T THINK SWEEPING CHANGE ACROSS THE BOARD WOULD BE EFFECTIVE. I THINK WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO FINE TUNE OUR OPERATIONS. AND I THINK PEOPLE ARE ALSO GOING TO BEGIN TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT HAS BIGGER EFFECTS ON FISH AND SO FORTH. SO WE’LL KNOW WHERE WE NEED TO MAKE MORE CHANGES AS WE LEARN MORE.
And even if environmentalists are less-than-thrilled with its pace, most will admit that, for now, the Endangered Species Act is one of…if not THE…best tool that exists for protecting animals and ecosystems.
What’s that quote about democracy being the best form of government except for all the others? It might apply here too.
