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by Anne O'Brien
Five hundred dollars are yours if you locate
a set of tracks similar to those at right and prove to the Colorado Department
of Wildlife (CDOW) that a lynx living in Colorado made them.
But chances are that unless you're an exceptional tracker, the reward will remain in the coffers of CDOW. The last reported sighting of a Colorado lynx took place near Vail in 1973. Since then their mottled fur is more likely to be spotted at the coat check of an aprés ski bar than in the evergreen forests the animals favor. Actually, only eighteen lynx sightings have ever been formally documented in the state, fourteen of which were reported between 1878 and 1935. These statistics stand in spite of twelve investigative studies completed since 1979 using snow tracking, hair snags, remote cameras, and snares to try to find a lynx hiding out in solitary secrecy in backcountry Colorado.
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It wasn't always so. The lynx, whose primary range today lies in the forests of Alaska and Canada, was pushed south during the Ice Age and traveled back north as the climate changed again. So the lynx has been part of the biological community of the southern Rocky Mountains for thousands of years. Recently, those agencies whose mission is to protect our wild heritage have called the public's attention to the case of this elusive cat with its huge paws, tufted ears, and absurdly short tail. In fact, the CDOW plans to add animals to whatever remains of the Colorado lynx population, beginning this winter.
This effort constitutes a risky but scientifically worthy undertaking. We know little about lynx survival in the southern Rocky Mountains. The biological, legal, and political components of the experiment have attracted the attention of people well beyond the state of Colorado. They are waiting to see whether independent state efforts at lynx recovery in the southern reaches of its range will succeed.
Efforts to restore the lynx to its southern range began in earnest after fifteen years of searching within the animal's known historic range in Colorado yielded remarkably few authenticated observations. Eighteen positive, fifty-five probable, and sixty-four possible sightings were reported during the period. At that point, "We wanted to quit looking and do something about restoration," says John Seidel, predatory mammals biologist at CDOW and a strong advocate of lynx augmentation. "We feel they ... still exist but are very rare and ... in need of help."
To proceed with restoration, however, the animal needed official status under the laws that govern declining species. In 1976, the Colorado Wildlife Commission designated the lynx a state endangered species. This presented few difficulties, since the Colorado lynx constitutes a distinct southern segment of the species, which is especially vulnerable to extinction due to its isolation. Furthermore, its habitat is fragmented, cut up by barriers that range from Wyoming's Red Desert to snowmobile trails to naturally substandard foraging and prey conditions. However, state-level endangered species status protects only the animal, not its habitat.
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| Lynx front paw |
Federally-designated status would extend that protection, and in 1992 the state of Washington--whose lynx population, like that of other neighboring states to the north, is greater than Colorado's--petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to list the lynx as an endangered species. The petition was denied. A subsequent review of the decision in 1997 cautiously moved the lynx to "candidate" status, four years after it had been labeled "sensitive." Under each of these designations, management of both the animal and its habitat received certain special consideration on federal lands, although not at the same high level that CDOW and others considered necessary for its survival. June of 1999 will end a formal, yearlong federal evaluation period that will conclude with another review of the lynx's status.
If the USFWS determines that the lynx is "endangered," all the agencies representing the animal's interests will find themselves on the same page. If the species fails to be protected at that level, controversy is sure to ensue, according to Jasper Carlton of the Biodiversity Legal Foundation.
These issues jumped into the headlines recently, when an "ecoterrorist" organization calling itself Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for millions of dollars of arson destruction in Vail, performed in the name of the lynx. Even the most eco-apathetic citizens of Colorado are now aware that the courts have declined to delay Vail Associates' ski area expansion until a final decision is made about the species' status. As a result, lynxes and outdoor recreation are now linked in the minds of the public. It may have fallen to these animals to crystallize a new dimension of a continuing issue.
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| Lynx hind paw |
So exactly how are the lynx and commercial recreation connected? First of all, biologists know that these cats, at least in northern climates, prefer to dine on snowshoe, or varying, hare. Snowshoe hares, as their name implies, like snowy places, especially those where young thickets thrive under old-growth forest. GIS computer mapping has identified areas of hare-friendly--and therefore lynx-friendly--habitat in Colorado. Apparently one conifer forest is not like another when it comes to "rabbitty" preference. Hares and old-growth forest with undisturbed undergrowth translate to remote sites free of human activity, whether recreational or commercial. Even if the southern lynx has adapted to different prey or habitat situations, biologists cannot be sure where the species will survive until radio-collared individuals are set out and studied in the southern Rocky Mountains.
Snow recreationists and lynxes prefer many of the same places, including those that possess the critical quality of solitude. Just as important to their survival as undisturbed cover and food, lynxes must be able to travel from a less-than-ideal area to one that is better suited to their needs, whether for prey, a mate, or new territory. Herein lies another conflict with recreation. Natural and human-created barriers fragment Colorado habitat. Just as the Wyoming desert makes it unlikely that the lynx populations of Montana, Idaho, and other nearby states will expand into Colorado, trails for skiing, hiking, and snowmobiling--as well as the roads that lead to them--decrease the possibility of migration within the state. Repetitive human activity of almost any kind represents a minefield of discouraging circumstances for the lynx. This explains why biologists have selected isolated spots in the Rio Grande--San Juan National Forests as release sites for the animals after they are transported from the north.
At this point, the paths of conservation, economics, law, and politics come together. The cost of capturing, screening, transporting, and releasing one lynx is over one thousand dollars, and related expenses will continue during the study period. These efforts obviously require cooperation on the part of conservationists, ranchers, and loggers as well as recreationists and those who cater to them. The same agencies are expected to balance all these interests. With public input, these groups have to decide complex questions: does maximizing revenue from forestry, grazing, hunting, and other recreation take precedence over the intangible value of preserving our biological inheritance? Should science take a back seat to commerce? How can all those competing for the use of public land receive what is due to them? "The lynx is not the spotted owl," say conservationists. But the lynx, because of its habitat preferences, may galvanize the recreation industry to enter the conservation/development dialogue on the side of commerce.
Both public and private interests listen to opinion. It behooves Colorado Mountain Club members, who frequently are both users of recreational lands and conservationists, to pay close attention to the complexities of these issues and to share their considered opinions with people and organizations who are active in lynx affairs. These include: Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240; Jamie Rappaport Clark, Director of the USFWS at the same address; Lyle Laverty, Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region, 740 Simms Street. PO Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225; and John Mumma, Director, the Colorado Department of Wildlife, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216
What kind of reward are you seeking from Colorado's wilderness? Communicate your thoughts to government agencies that represent the lynx as well as commercial interests. How they balance these concerns may depend on our action or inaction.
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This page maintained by Keith Jensen .