Feds designate water vital to bull trout

[CShine]

A federal plan designating rivers and lakes essential to saving local populations of bull trout from extinction covers nearly 2,300 miles of streams in Western Washington. The species-protection proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also designates 985 miles of marine shoreline and thousands of lakes and reservoirs.

Those waters are considered "critical" to the survival of the fish because they're used for spawning and rearing, foraging and migration. The plan falls short of creating refuges or preserves but clears the way for additional protection, such as requirements for notifying the government of proposed developments that could harm the stream or lake.

Bull trout were listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act in 1999. Two environmental groups, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Friends of the Wild Swan, sued the government to force it to determine which waters are important to the fish.

The decline of bull trout is blamed on polluted and warm water, blocked migration pathways, competition with non-native fish and the fact that local populations are fragmented, making them more vulnerable to extinction.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/179138_bulltrout23.html

[DBtv]

1. A small step for trout, a positive step for mankind.

Unless true compassion for all elements of the biosphere becomes the driving force of humanity, Earth as we know it, ultimately, is doomed.