Karen Chávez

kchavez@citizen-times.com

There are 54 species listed on the North Carolina Endangered Species List

8 new species are being proposed as endangered, while three are being downlisted.

The green salamander, native to WNC, is the only endangered salamander in the state.

The average person can aid wildlife in danger of going extinct.

ASHEVILLE - Lori Williams has spent much of the last 14 years as a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission crawling through choking rhododendron thickets and scaling slippery rock faces.

Her goal: to find even the glimpse of a little green salamander in a rock crevice.

When Williams can actually get a hold of a whole salamander body, when they are hanging off a rock like a refrigerator magnet, she can measure it, take a skin swab for amphibian disease surveillance and stick the critter back into its little rock crevice hideaway.

Looking back at the countless hours in the field, she can see time well spent. The green salamander, which has been on the North Carolina Endangered Species List since the early 1990s, is now being proposed by the wildlife commission for downlisting to the Threatened Species List.

The salamander is one of 37 species proposed for changes on the state list of protected wildlife. Among them are eight to be added to the endangered list -- the most serious.

This green salamander's downlisting means the species has rebounded a bit from immediate threat of extinction under the state Endangered Species Act. But it is still in need of constant monitoring and habitat conservation, Williams said.

The amphibian is a small success story among many other North Carolina wildlife species that are on the brink of extinction. But the downlisting isn’t the whole story for the green salamander.

“It’s been endangered for a long time, because we haven’t greatly understood where they are. We’ve identified a lot more sites than we had before,” she said.

“Its numbers are recovering, but that’s an oversimplification. It fits the definition at this time as threatened, but that is still very, very serious and it still warrants a lot of conservation attention. As we continue to research and monitor it in the future, it could very well go back to endangered if the data warrant it."

Biologists use the protected wildlife list to identify and conduct conservation projects to increase species population numbers. An endangered species is defined as one whose continued existence has been determined to be in jeopardy in the state, a threatened species is one that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future throughout all, or at least a significant portion, of its range. A species listed as special concern needs monitoring.

The green salamander, native to Western North Carolina, is the only endangered salamander in the state, Williams said.

Two of the biggest threats to the green salamander are habitat loss through fragmentation of the landscape and loss of forest, and climate change -- the rapid warming of the Earth from the burning of fossil fuels.

“The green salamander needs cool, humid outcrops to live on. It wouldn’t take too many degrees of warming or severe, prolonged drought to significantly harm populations."

When your life is in danger

There are 54 species listed on the North Carolina Endangered Species List. Most of these are also on the Federal Endangered Species List.

“It is sort of unusual to add eight species (to the endangered list) at once,” said Kendrick Weeks, Western wildlife diversity supervisor with the N.C. Wildlife Commission. “Listing helps to bring attention to the need for better monitoring of these species.”

The federal listing is more stringent because it takes into account wildlife across the entire country, he said. For example the barn owl, which is being proposed for the state’s special concern list because of severe declines in its habitat and populations in North Carolina, is not listed federally.

“The barn owl in North America is doing fine overall. It’s just in the Southeast we have concerns about it, and in North Carolina particular,” Weeks said.

Another example is elk. The species was extirpated from North Carolina 200 years ago due to overhunting. The hulking animal was experimentally reintroduced to WNC in 2002 with some 25 animals. It was on the state species of special concern list. But with a current herd of about 150, the Wildlife Commission deemed the experiment successful and removed elk from all protected wildlife listings.

But in general, when an animal hits any list, things aren’t looking good.

Eight species are proposed as endangered, while three are being downlisted.

Nine species are being added to the threatened list and seven are being downlisted.

There are 14 animals being proposed for the special concern list and 14 being removed.

Proposals for listing are evaluated by commission biologists using a standard protocol that assesses several metrics, including population size, population trend, and geographic range.The Wildlife Commission is holding a public hearing and will take comments through May 15. After considering all public comments, the 19 wildlife commissioners will meet at the July Commission meeting to decide whether to adopt the proposed changes. If approved, changes will take effect Oct. 1.

Some wildlife watchers say most of the reasons for animal endangerment can be linked to human causes.

"The most common cause species decline, in NC and everywhere else, is habitat loss," said Andrew J. Laughlin, assistant professor of Environmental Studies at UNC Asheville. "This can include habitat loss due to direct development of land, as in the case of our coasts, impacting common terns. The ESA has certainly helped wildlife in North Carolina, evidenced by the number of species that are rebounding in population size, such as the green Salamander."

“Generally speaking, we haven't curbed many of the threats species face. And, our ability to protect and restore habitats can hardly keep pace with development, and pollution,” said Ben Prater, director of the Southeast program for the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife.

“But downlisting should give us hope. Listing programs at the State and Federal level are vital to help managers set priorities and to bring attention to the needs of wildlife. I'm glad that North Carolina has maintained a robust monitoring effort to be able to recognize the threats many species face. Habitat loss and climate change will continue to be driving forces for species extinction.”

Life is hard for a longsolid

The green salamander’s slow crawl back from the brink is one bright spot in the animal kingdom, but things are not as rosy for the longsolid.

The freshwater mussel is up for designation on the state Endangered Species List because only two populations are known to exist in North Carolina – a short section of the Little River in Transylvania County, downstream from DuPont State Recreational Forest, and a small section of the Hiwassee River in Cherokee and Clay counties.

“They’re really rare and hard to find,” said Steve Fraley, western aquatic wildlife diversity coordinator with the wildlife commission.

“Historically the species was widespread throughout the entire Tennessee River System and parts of the Ohio River system. They declined precipitously because of water quality decline and the damming of the Tennessee River system.”

The longsolid, which can grow to the size of a tennis ball, was once abundant in the French Broad River, which runs through Asheville. Unregulated source and point source pollution made the water uninhabitable for most aquatic life.

The 1850s brought large scale deforestation, followed by agriculture on steep slopes also causing erosion, then came paper mills and tanneries, and then widespread damming in the 1930s and ‘40s by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

The longsolid was also a prized piece of the clothing across the globe, used to make buttons.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 helped to clean up water pollution and plastic replaced shells as buttons, but the mussel population, also an important food source for fish, birds, otters and other animals, was still clawing for survival. Their plight doesn’t portend well for the human population.

“Freshwater mussels are among the most sensitive to water quality. They serve as our canary in the coalmine. They basically serve as kidneys of waterways. They are little water pumps running 24 hours a day and filtering the water,” Fraley said.

“We as humans depend exclusively on fresh, clean water. As long as we have freshwater mussels, we know we will have clean water. As they die off the base of the biological system is lost.”

There is fear the longsolid could go the way of the Appalachian elktoe, a mussel found only in Western North Carolina. Its numbers have dropped so sharply that is has been on the Federal Endangered Species List since 1996.

What can be done for the critters

Getting on a protected wildlife list isn’t all gloomy. Being listed helps direct state agencies to consider wildlife as a priority, such as the Department of Transportation designing road projects along waterways to avoid impacts that would be detrimental to wildlife, the wildlife commission prioritizing land purchases adjacent to wildlife habitat, and propagating mussels at the fish hatchery in Marion, as it does with fish.

An example of redirected management success was something as simple providing nest boxes for kestrels at Sandy Mush in Buncombe County, Weeks said. The nest habitat was in decline, although the early successional foraging habitat was healthy. There were two kestrels at Sandy Mush in the early 2000s. After the installation of nesting boxes, their numbers increased six times in three years.

The average person can also aid wildlife in danger of going extinct.

People who live in rural areas can improve their agricultural practices and timber extraction to reduce stream pollution. In urban and suburban areas, people can be more vigilant about the use of herbicides and de-icer running into waterways, planting vegetation along stream banks to prevent erosion, and managing for stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces such as roofs, streets and parking lots.

Moving to alternative and cleaner energy sources to decrease the burning of fossil fuels such electricity from coal fired power plants and gas-burning cars, will also help to reduce climate change.

“We’ve spend a lot of attention on the green salamander. It’s a very complex species. We’ve worked to understand all its issues,” Williams said. “Downlisting from endangered to threatened in one way is a good show of success, but on other hand we can’t stop now.”

Give your comments

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is holding a public hearing on the proposed wildlife listing changes. The WNC hearing is 7-9 p.m. April 25 at Western Piedmont Community College, 2128 S. Sterling St. in Morganton. Comment period ends May 15. Comments may be submitted at http://tinyurl.com/lcts2e6 or emailed to regulations@ncwildlife.org.

The following eight species are being proposed for the state Endangered Species List and their justifications:

Common Tern: Now listed as Special Concern. Numbers of this species have declined substantially in recent years and is now very rare. Gopher Frog: Now listed as Threatened. It continues to experience a reduction in range and populations. Henslow’s Sparrow: Listed as Special Concern. It has very limited suitable habitat in North Carolina and the population is very small. Longsolid: Currently not listed. Only two populations are known to exist in North Carolina. Ornate Chorus Frog: Currently not listed. Significant reductions of suitable habitat and populations have occurred. River Frog: Currently not listed. No individuals of this species have been observed in North Carolina in many years, but it may still occur in extremely low numbers. Sharpnose Darter: Currently listed as Special Concern. Its numbers have dropped significantly in recent years. Wayne’s Black-throated Green Warbler: Currently not listed. It has limited suitable habitat and has experienced sharp reductions in numbers.

For a complete list of proposed listing changes, visit http://tinyurl.com/l3m7buh.