US proposes first habitat protections for Canada lynx in southern Rockies
The US Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a recovery plan and proposed critical habitat designations for threatened Canada lynx on 27 November, marking the first such protections in Colorado and New Mexico. The proposal covers 7,679 square miles in the southern Rockies, home to 218 lynx reintroduced between 1999 and 2006. "The science and the law support critical habitat protections for lynx in the southern Rockies," said Matthew Bishop, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. Conservation groups had brought two court cases pushing the Service toward this action.
Reintroduced lynx populations now have legal habitat protections meant to help them survive pressures from climate change.
Source: Feds finalize Canada lynx recovery plan, propose first-ever habitat protections in CO, NM (wildearthguardians.org). Spotted via Good Good Good.
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