Federal judge upholds habitat reduction for endangered snakes

TUCSON (CN) – Reducing critical habitat protections for two endangered garter snakes does not violate the Endangered Species Act, according to a federal judge.

In one order issued on FridayU.S. District Judge Raner Collins found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service relied on the best available science when defining occupied habitat and excluding unoccupied areas for northern Mexican and rattlesnakes. He granted summary judgment for the agency.

To prevail under the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, a plaintiff must show not simply that the agency reached the wrong conclusion, but that it ignored or failed to consider available science.

Collins, a Bill Clinton appointee, found the center failed to make that showing.

“CBD’s dissatisfaction with FWS’s determination does not amount to a failure to address CBD’s concerns,” Collins wrote in a 20-page ruling.

In the year 2023 complaintCenter for Biological Diversity and snakes expert Erika Nowak argued that Fish and Wildlife ignored snake experts and its own scientists in shrinking the snakes’ protected habitat by excluding thousands of acres of ephemeral streams, among other actions the center says “were contrary to the good at hand.”

Fish and Wildlife did not rule out all transitional streams, but found, through their own studies, that garter snakes only occupy transitional streams that connect two perennial streams or larger bodies of water.

“FWS’s conclusion that purely ephemeral streams do not provide habitat for either species was justifiable and supported by the best available evidence,” Collins wrote. “FWS included areas used to connect water sources, areas where the species had been spotted foraging, and areas that provided adequate ground cover. FWS considered CBD’s and Nowak’s comments, but made reasonable conclusions based on all the evidence. The court will not question FWS’s expertise.”

the center also argued that the agency improperly excluded land areas between perennial stream systems that snakes often use to move between water bodies for certain life cycle functions, such as overwintering and reproduction.

Fish and Wildlife research found that most garter snakes use vegetative cover for travel, but not grassland, so it ruled out grasslands. Previous assumptions about habitat limits were based on property boundaries around reservoirs rather than actual land use by the species, so the agency’s updated findings naturally excluded some lands previously calculated.

“With the limited information available, FWS acknowledged that the proposed 2013 designation of critical habitat around property boundaries bore no correlation to species use,” Collins wrote. “Additionally, FWS realigned the boundaries to better account for habitat associated with watersheds and vegetative ground cover. FWS acknowledged and explained its change in position, considered the available evidence, and addressed Dr. Nowak’s comments.”

In deciding which areas to consider invaded, Fish and Wildlife disregarded data collected before 1998 because most garter snakes don’t live more than 15 years. The center argued that 15 is an arbitrary estimate and that the elusive and secretive nature of snakes makes it difficult to track or make such assumptions.

Again, Collins found the agency’s assumptions to be reasonable, given the surveys and historical data available to him.

Because of the snake’s small population and poor genetic health, the center argued that protecting uninhabited habitat is essential to prevent extinction. Expanding the habitat area, the center said, would improve the species’ chances of long-term survival.

The Endangered Species Act requires the agency to show that the expanded habitat is “necessary” to the survival of the species, not merely beneficial. The US Fish and Wildlife Service found no uninhabited areas within the snakes’ historic range that contain perennial streams, suitable prey, and limited non-native predators. As a result, he concluded that additional habitat would not be useful, much less necessary.

In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting more than 630,000 acres for northern Mexican and northern rattlesnakes, before both species were listed as endangered in 2014. The proposal was never finalized. The Center for Biological Diversity says the more than 90% reduction approved in 2021 violates the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Both snakes occupy perennial and ephemeral streams and wetlands across Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. of northern Mexican garter snake TAKE 20,326 hectares of protected land – a 95% reduction from the proposed 421,423 hectares. of narrow-headed garter snake TAKE 23,785 hectares – a reduction of 89% from the proposed 210,289 hectares.

Under the 2013 proposed rule, an entire stream would be protected if it contained at least one snake and at least one native prey. But the 2021 revision protects only 2.2 miles both upstream and downstream “from a known garter snake sighting record.”

Neither side immediately responded to requests for comment.