Good News for Maine's Lynx

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Designates Critical Habitat For Maine's Threatened Canada Lynx

FALMOUTH, Maine, February 25, 2009—Maine Audubon welcomes recent good news for wildlife conservation and the Canada lynx, a threatened species.

Revising an earlier decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced on February 24. 2009 that it has designated as “critical habitat” for Canada lynx approximately 39,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington. In Maine, the designation is for about 9,500 square miles in Aroostook, Franklin, Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset Counties.

“Lynx are in trouble across the nation, and Maine is the only state in the East where they exist,” said Dr. Sally Stockwell, Maine Audubon conservation director. “We have both an opportunity and a responsibility to do all we can to protect Maine’s lynx.”

Land designated as critical habitat contains essential features for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species. The designation does not eliminate timber harvesting but may require special management to maintain good-quality lynx habitat. Only if development projects proposed within the designated area require a federal permit or receive federal funding do they trigger additional review by the USFWS to determine how the project will affect the lynx population and habitat.

Maine Audubon has long advocated for protection of Maine’s lynx. In 2000, the organization supported listing Canada lynx as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. With conservation partners, Maine Audubon has provided the USFWS with extensive analysis of the need for lynx conservation in Maine.

In comments last fall to the Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Audubon showed that an earlier decision not to designate critical habitat was scientifically unsound, unsupported by law or policy, and detrimental to the recovery of the species. Maine Audubon also addressed in its comments the inadequacy of a voluntary agreement the Maine Forest Products Council proposed to guide its members in managing forest habitat for the recovery of Canada lynx.

“While voluntary agreements can be beneficial,” Stockwell said, “Maine Audubon’s review of the council’s proposed agreement revealed serious deficiencies. The agreement focused on research, information sharing, and meetings to discuss management guidelines, but fell short of committing any of the Maine Forest Products Council members to actually implementing the guidelines that would be developed.

“Clearly, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service agreed with Maine Audubon’s conclusion that the proposed voluntary agreement did not outweigh tangible, enforceable habitat protections conferred by the critical habitat designation.”

Lynx are medium-sized cats, generally measuring 30-35 inches long and weighing 18-23 pounds. They have tufts on their ears, short, black-tipped tails, large, well-furred feet and long legs for traversing snow. Lynx are highly specialized predators of snowshoe hare, which are the lynx’s primary prey species.

Areas designated as critical habitat for the Canada lynx include boreal forest landscapes that provide one or more of the following for lynx: snowshoe hare for prey; abundant, large, woody debris piles for dens; and winter snow conditions that are generally deep and fluffy for extended periods of time.

Forest management practices aligned with a critical habitat designation will help create lynx habitat for dens, and shelter for raising lynx kittens, as well as habitat for snowshoe hare. These practices also will help create the travel corridors lynx need to move between areas of high-quality habitat and find mates.

Stockwell said Maine Audubon would welcome the opportunity to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, University of Maine scientists, and the Maine Forest Products Council to develop a meaningful management plan for Canada lynx across Maine’s Northern Forest.

MAINE AUDUBON works to conserve Maine’s wildlife and wildlife habitat by engaging people of all ages in education, conservation and action. For more than 160 years, Maine Audubon has been connecting people with nature and leading science-based conservation in major projects across the state. An independent affiliate of Audubon’s national organization, Maine Audubon has seven local chapters, 11 nature centers and sanctuaries, and 11,000 members and supporters.

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