Protections for Wildlife Criticized

One was a blue butterfly found in only one meadow in the Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood. Another was a rare fish in a spring at the California-Nevada border.

Both are among 114 species that have become extinct since the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, in most cases because of lengthy delays in gaining protection, according to a study released Wednesday by an environmental group. The Center for Biological Diversity reviewed 20 years’ worth of government and academic records tracking the disappearance of species, including delicate plants and fruits, little-known turtles, birds and other animals.

“These species never had a chance,” said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the center. “If extinction is the ultimate criteria by which to judge ... implementation of the Endangered Species Act, the failure has been spectacular.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for enforcing the Endangered Species Act, said the agency had not received the full report and could not comment in detail on the findings.

“But it is clear to anyone that by the time any species makes it to the [endangered species] list, they are in trouble,” said Jeff Fleming, a spokesman with the service’s headquarters in Washington. “It’s a lengthy process because of the way the act is constructed.”

In the 30-year history of the Endangered Species Act, 1,260 plants and animals have been listed as “threatened” or “endangered.” According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, just 39 species have been removed -- nine because they went extinct.

The center’s study found that 88 other species had gone extinct because of delays of up to 20 years after they were first identified as in trouble. They blamed the delays on political interference and efforts to allow controversial dams and other developments to go through.

In the case of the San Gabriel Mountains blue butterfly, the center found that U.S. Forest Service staff drained the one meadow where it was surviving in 1985. When Fish and Wildlife Service officials ultimately decided it should be a candidate for protection in 1989, it was long gone.

Suckling said Fish and Wildlife Service officials waited 16 years to even consider the butterfly for listing.

Matt Mathes, California spokesman for the Forest Service, said biologists in the Angeles National Forest did not recall anything about a meadow being drained in the area.

“But ... we are very, very concerned,” Mathes said. “It is ethically and morally and legally wrong to let creatures go extinct.... It doesn’t even sound right to me that anybody in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the U.S. Forest Service would allow a species to go extinct.”

He said saving endangered wildlife in Southern California was tough because of explosive human population growth, which drives other species out of their traditional habitats.

In the case of the High Rock Springs tui chub fish in Lassen County, the study found that California Department of Fish and Game officials issued a permit for tropical predator fish to be farmed in the last spring when it was alive. State officials required screens to be installed because they knew there was a rare fish there, but the tropical fish made their way through, ensuring the chub’s hasty demise.

Mike Wintemute, a department spokesman, said he was unable to address the chub issue immediately.