News Subscribe to Our Newsletter Sign up for Email Updates CGF In the News Press Inquiries Past Articles Calendar			Mercury News July 27, 2004 Tiger salamander gets protected status in California By Terence Chea, Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO - Federal wildlife officials agreed  to grant protection to the California  tiger salamander and its habitat, handing a major victory to conservationists  but angering farmers and real estate developers.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it  will list the salamander as a threatened species under the federal Endangered  Species Act - a designation that makes it unlawful to harm the salamander  and restricts development in its habitat, which is primarily found in  the Central Valley, Central Coast and San Francisco Bay area.  "It's a huge conservation milestone because we're  protecting one of California's most imperiled amphibians," said Kassie  Siegel, a staff attorney for the Center  for Biological Diversity, which sued to protect the species. "The  California tiger salamander and its habitat are a critical part of California's  natural heritage that will now be preserved for future generations." Agriculture and business interests that had opposed the listing said they were disappointed with the decision, which will go into effect in about a month. The California Natural Resources Group, which seeks to reform the Endangered Species Act, said the ruling was based on "outdated and biased" information. "The listing decision will impact critically needed infrastructure projects, affordable housing, school construction and farming activities," the group said in a statement. In announcing their decision Monday, FWS officials said they plan to propose designating nearly 400,000 acres in 20 counties as the salamander's critical habitat, which may require special land management practices. The tiger salamander populations in Sonoma and Santa Barbara counties, which are designated as endangered, will now be listed as threatened along with the rest of the state's salamander population. Threatened status offers fewer protections than endangered status. Cattle ranchers will be exempted from the rule because stock ponds on cattle ranches have become important habitat for the salamander, which has lost 75 percent of its native habitat. The ranchers won't be punished if they accidentally harm the amphibians, said FWS spokesman Al Donner. "We think the ranching operations will be a critical link to maintaining the species," Donner said. "Their normal ranching activities are helpful to the salamander, and we want that to continue." The California tiger salamander is a black-and-yellow amphibian that grows up to 8 inches long and lives in grasslands, woodlands and vernal pools, where it breeds during the winter rainy season. The species has been threatened by urban sprawl and the invasion of non-native species. Environmental groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, originally asked federal authorities to grant the salamander protected status in 1992. Two years later, the Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that such status was warranted, but the agency didn't have the resources to protect the species. Monday's decision to list the salamander as a threatened species was spurred by a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2002, said FWS spokesman Al Donner. The Fish and Wildlife Service was supposed to issue a rule to protect the salamander by May 15, but that deadline was pushed back after the Bush administration requested a delay for the protections, citing poor science. A federal judge ordered the agency to issue a listing decision by late July. Page last updated July 27, 2004 .