News Flash

Court Commands California to Give Tiger Salamander a Chance

Forced to end its stint of ignoring native wildlife in need of protection, this Tuesday the California Fish and Game Commission was court-ordered to consider a petition to protect the California tiger salamander under the state's Endangered Species Act. Already federally protected as endangered, the charming, yellow-spotted salamander has been devastated by development that has eliminated at least 75 percent of its California vernal pool habitat.  Still, the Commission rejected a petition for protection submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity back in 2004 -- just like it rejected a petition to protect the rabbit-like, warming-threatened American pika and the Pacific fisher, a forest carnivore imperiled by logging and development.

Tuesday's ruling, made by the California state appeals court, upholds a previous ruling that rejected the Commission's claim that the tiger salamander was imperiled. Instead of sending the decision back to the agency, the court ordered it to directly advance the salamander to candidacy for protection.

Limberlost Swamp

Biologists say we've lost about half of the number of songbirds we had just 50 years ago. Part of the reason is the loss of habitat. Many birds need wetlands. Sam Hendren has the story of one man's love of those birds and his work to save their home. Information on the Limberlost Swamp

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This little feller, about a centimeter in length, is a member of the family Corixidae, or Water Boatmen.

Photo by Alan Tomko

The Water Boatman is the featured educational article in the August '08 Newsletter.

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