Touting a conservation collaboration between federal and state agencies and landowners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the Sonoran desert tortoise does not merit federal protection.
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The headwater chub is dark gray to brown with silvery sides. The minnow is olive-gray to silver with a lighter belly. The two fish add to a long list of endangered freshwater species in the Southwest, where almost every fish, frog and snake that depends on the region’s rivers and streams is at risk.
According to agency spokesman Jeff Humphrey, the agency along with federal and state partners will still continue to monitor the tortoises however, current scientific data and models present that there is no probability that the tortoises will become extinct in the next 10 years. The DecisionMoreover, “The FWS decision not to list the Sonoran desert tortoise is a prime example of the Department’s critical role in being the most trusted, respected and credible source for wildlife conservation and information”.
Jones said that they haven’t ruled out legal action against Fish and Wildlife’s decision to remove the animal from endangered list.
Conservationists worry about the future of the desert tortoise.
In addition, The Sonoran tortoise lives mostly in Southern, Western and Northwestern Arizona and in two-thirds of Northern Sonora. Reached in 2011, the settlement is aimed at clearing a backlog of pending listing cases for species heretofore treated as candidate species and living in what amounts to endangered species limbo. The Sonoran desert tortoise will still receive protections from the state as a “species of greatest conservation need”. An endangered species advocate with WildEarth Guardians, Taylor Jones has questioned the Fish and Wildlife assessment that whether the local and federal organizations are going to be truly committed to protecting the tortoise or not. “And while it is important to acknowledge uncertainty regarding climate change impacts, the Service has a disturbing history of using small amounts of uncertainty to deny needed protections to species facing clear threats”.
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The desert tortoise was originally considered for protection due to threats including urban development, roads, and illegal pet trade.
