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®: CRE Regulatory Action of the Week
FWS Thinks Climate Change May Endanger the American Pika
The American pika is a small mammal related to rabbits and hares. It lives in alpine or subalpine areas in the western United States and Canada. On May 7, 2009, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service announced a
"90-day finding on a petition to list the American pika...as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing of the American pika may be warranted. Therefore, with the publication of this notice, we are initiating a status review of the species, and we will issue a 12-month finding to determine if the petitioned action is warranted. "
This FWS action is in response to a listing petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and a court settlement with CBD when FWS failed to act on the petition within the statutory deadlines. The possible Pika listing is noteworthy because the FWS found that CBD
"presents substantial information to indicate that listing the American pika may be warranted as a threatened or endangered species due to the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its range due to impacts attributed to climate change."
FWS requests public comment by July 6, 2009, on a number of pika-listing issues including
"a) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or
curtailment of the species' habitat or range;
(b) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or
educational purposes;
(c) Disease or predation;
(d) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
(e) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued
existence and threats to the species or its habitat."
Click here to read FWS' Federal Register notice of possible Pika ESA listing
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