The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday unveiled a plan to designate critical habitat for lynx forest cats, complying with a court order pressed by environmentalists.
The plan, which is subject to public input and won't be final for a year, names nearly 27,000 square miles across several states as key area for lynx. The area includes Minnesota, Maine and several mountain states in the West.
Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife, the lead group that filed suit demanding the government follow rules of the Endangered Species Act, welcomed the plan but stopped short of an endorsement.
"We are concerned that they chose not to designate on a lot of national forests where designation might have the most impact," said Mike Senatore, vice president of conservation litigation for Defenders. "We don't want them to be doing this for the sake of a lawsuit. They should do it so it makes a difference in making sure lynx are recovered across their range."
In Minnesota, about 3,546 square miles in portions of Cook, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis counties have been designated.
But federal officials say the designation will have little impact on the land designated and even less impact on the lynx. Especially in Minnesota, the designation is expected to have little or no effect on most land management, said Phil Delphi, endangered species biologist at the Service's Twin Cities field station.
The designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge, wilderness, reserve, preserve or other conservation area. It does not force government or public access onto private lands.
Only areas where lynx are known to roam have been included. And only when the federal government has business on state, county or private land -- such as federally funded highway, development or state wildlife projects -- would the habitat designation have an impact.
Delphi said it's unclear how the public will react to the plan. Some may be upset that no areas in Michigan's Upper Peninsula were included, or that areas west of U.S. Highway 53 in Minnesota were excluded, he said.
Lynx remain protected in all areas, however, and anyone who kills a lynx is guilty of a federal offense.
"When we look at historical lynx records and snowfall totals, it's fairly amazing Highway 53 comes up as a boundary. They are much more prevalent east of there," Delphi said.
Much of the Superior National Forest is excluded because the forest already has specific lynx management plans in place. The Iron Range was excluded because no suitable habitat remains, Delphi said.
Areas proposed as critical for lynx include boreal forests that provide lynx with food or shelter -- including areas where snowshoe hares frequent, often-logged and burned areas, and areas where old forests dominate with large numbers of dead and downed trees where lynx den.Duluth News Tribune
