Coastal Cutthroat trout listing denied

On 6/26/02, USFWS announced, in a press release, that it would not list coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) in SW Washington and NW Oregon as threatened under the ESA. The announcement predated the availability of the final rule, which will be published on July 5, by more than a week, in an apparent effort to spin its politically-motivated decision before the public and press had access to the final rule.

Coastal cutthroat trout populations have undergone severe contractions in range and numbers. All state and federal agencies concede that their habitats are widely and severely degraded by a combination of urbanization, agriculture, and logging. The responsible state and federal agencies have thoroughly failed to protect streams and coastal cutthroat habitats from these activities. For these, and other reasons, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed to list these magnificent fish as "threatened" in April 1999. Information that has become available in the interim indicates that cutthroat trout face even greater threats to their persistence, warranting their listing as "endangered" under the ESA. The Oregon Natural Resources Council filed the petition for list the coastal cutthroat trout in December 1997.

Authority for the cutthroat listing was subsequently transferred to the USFWS, which failed to complete it, until required to do so by 6/23/02 under a landmark settlement between the Dept. of Interior and Center for Biological Diversity, the California Native Plant Society and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project in August 2001 that required the USFWS to complete required listing efforts for 29 species (for more information, see: http://www.endangeredearth.org/alerts/result-m.asp?index=1094).

The settlement also covered the listing of Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The USFWS also denied ESA protection to this highly imperiled southwestern trout which now has strong populations that only occupy less than a few percent of this trout's historic range (http://www.westerntrout.org/trout/roadless.htm). It is apparent that the USFWS decisions not to list these two imperiled trout species are part of a politically motivated effort to avoid listing species with extensive historical habitats that require healthy watersheds and streams.