Endangered Species
Endangered Mammals include the federally "Endangered" Black-Footed Ferret, Mustela Nigripes.
The "Endangered" Bald Eagle:
The Golden Eagle is also listed as "Endangered", and the maximum penalty under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act is one year imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, and under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 2 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, for harming, having, or transporting even a feather.
leaked document from the Army warning of protective status:
Noise regulations for Butts Airfield on the PCMS (PDF)
The"Endangered" Peregrine Falcon:
"Threatened" Raptors also include the Mexican Spotted Owl, Strix Occidentalis Lucida, a species federally listed as "Threatened":
The "Threatened" Borrowing Owl:
The Ferruginous Hawk is listed as "Special Concern" in Colorado:
Monitored populations of two "Candidate Species" for federal listing, include the Mountain Plover, Charadrius Montanus:
and the Swift, or Kit Fox, Vulpes Velox:
plus the Texas Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, are formerly federally listed as a Category 2 species.
"Threatened"
Lesser Prairie Chicken does a mating dance
Map, directions to blind to see Lesser Prairie Chicken lek
Conducted surveys of the Preble's Meadow Jumping Mouse, Zapus Hudsonius Preblei, a federal "Candidate Species", on Fort Carson, which on July 21 was confirmed by scientists hired by Fish and Wildlife as a unique subspecies, so deserving of it's Endangered Species listing as "Threatened". Click here for a map of the range.
The Southern Redbelly Dace, Phoxinus Erythrogaster, state listed as a "Species of Special Concern".
The Arkansas Darter, Etheostoma Cragini, is a Candidate for the federally "Threatened Species" list.
The "Threatened" Greenback Cutthroat Trout, Oncorhynchus Clarki Stomias is found in the Purgatory River.
The "federally listed" Orchid, Ladies'-Tresses, Spiranthes diluviales is found here
and Botanists have documented the three largest populations of Dwarf Milkweed, Asclepias Uncialis, known to exist.
There
are inventories and mapped locations of seven rare plants at the PCMS.
The National Wetlands Inventory lists 40 categories of wetlands totaling 4,776
acres (1,934 ha) in 31 categories at the PCMS.
The
Plains Leopard Frog is found in the local wetlands
Complete list of Endangered, threatened, vanishing species of the Southern Rockies
Colorado
Division of Wildlife Endangered and Threatened species list
Map of protected area needed, according to the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, of 6,000 locations on 16,700 acres around Picket Wire Canyonlands.
From
a statistically significant sample of 107 recovery plans, the GAO found that
only 34 plans included an estimated date by which the species would be recovered.
GAO found that even fewer plans, 20, included an estimated cost for recovery.
Worse yet, the GAO found that 102 of the 107 plans reviewed failed to address
all of the factors that are considered when the agencies determine whether
or not a species is endangered.
"In more than three decades, the ESA has recovered less than one percent of
the thirteen-hundred species on its list," House Resources Committee
Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.) said.
"Critical
habitat designations improve land management by federal agencies, particularly
in our rivers and wetlands and on the millions of acres of publicly owned
National Forests, BLM public lands and wildlife refuges."
Dr. Emily Roberson of CNPS
Only 11% of federally listed species in the U.S. have designated critical habitat.
Leaked Army document with lack of listing of all the threatened and endangered species because the surveys haven't been done:
Leaked Army internal report on the enormous amount of pesticides and herbicides used, and that instead of reducing the use by 50%, as mandated by the Army, increased it by 418% in FY04. The effects of reproducing this on the PCMS, in the Purgatory River drainage, is obvious:
Leaked Army document showing NO attempt to inspect underground storage tanks holding gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels:
Report
to Congress by the National Park Service on the effects of aircraft on Wildlife
in direct contradiction to the Army's EIS on the PCMS stating: "Potential
impacts to birds are discussed in Sections 4.1.5 and 4.2.5 of the DEIS (draft
EIS). Birds, as with mammals discussed in the previous issue, would
be subject to direct disturbances from maneuver activity and indirect effects
from habitat damage. The references to jet and helicopter activity is
especially interesting since both sites and especially the canyons have been
exposed to such flights for years by aircraft flown by the Air Force and Colorado
Air National Guard. Yet both sites are recognized for their abundance
of birds, including noise sensitive raptor species such as the ferruginous
hawk. The conclusion to be drawn is that, as with mammals, most bird
species will acclimate to intermittent disturbances, even of a severe nature.
The same phenomena has been observed at Fort Carson where bird populations
appear to be stable and roughly equivalent with areas of comparable habitat
outside of Fort Carson. The most striking example was the regular nesting
of a pair of ferruginous hawks directly under the approach flight path of
National Guard jets using a strafing/bombing range. The jets flew over
the nest at a height of about 200 feet on virtually a daily basis. The
adult birds would leave the area during the flights, the young in the nest
appeared to be unaffected."
US
Fish and Wildlife report (Fort Collins) to the Air Force on the detrimental
effects of aircraft on wildlife; again in complete contradiction to the
PCMS Environmental Impact Statement; Including, but not limited to cessation
of lactation in dairy cows, reduced Hemoglobin, increased white blood cells,
various detriments to hormone and endocrine systems, decreased Thyroid production,
increased miscarriages, auditory damage, increased infant mortality, etc.