Current:Home > ContactUS proposes plan to protect the snow-dependent Canada lynx before warming shrinks its habitat -InfinityFinance
US proposes plan to protect the snow-dependent Canada lynx before warming shrinks its habitat
View
Date:2025-04-17 14:34:11
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials proposed a $31 million recovery plan for Canada lynx on Friday in a bid to help the snow-dependent wildcat species that scientists say could be wiped out in parts of the contiguous U.S. by the end of the century.
The proposal marks a sharp turnaround from five years ago, when officials in Donald Trump’s presidency said lynx had recovered and no longer needed protection after their numbers had rebounded in some areas. President Joseph Biden’s administration in 2021 reached a legal settlement with environmental groups to retain threatened species protections for lynx that were first imposed in 2000.
Populations of the medium-sized wildcats in New Hampshire, Maine and Washington state are most at risk as habitat changes reduce populations of their primary food, snowshoe hares, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documents indicate.
But declines for lynx would be seen in boreal forests across the contiguous U.S. under even the most optimistic warming scenario that officials considered, the newly-released documents show. That includes lynx populations in the northern and southern Rocky Mountains and in the Midwest.
The recovery plan says protecting 95% of current lynx habitat in the lower 48 states in coming decades would help the species remain viable. And it suggests lynx could be moved into the Yellowstone region of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho — an area they don’t currently occupy — as a potential climate change refuge.
There are roughly 1,100 lynx in the contiguous U.S., spread across five populations with the largest concentrations in the northeastern U.S. and northern Rockies. Most areas suitable for lynx are in Alaska and Canada.
Those numbers are expected to plummet in some areas, and the proposal would aim for a minimum contiguous U.S. population of a combined 875 lynx over a 20-year period across the five populations, including 400 in the northeast and 200 in the northern Rockies, according to the proposal.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a November 2024 deadline to draft a related plan to protect land where lynx are found. That came out of a legal settlement with two environmental groups — Wild Earth Guardians and Wilderness Workshop.
U.S. government biologists first predicted in 2016 that some lynx populations could disappear by 2100.
However, under Trump officials shortened their time span for considering climate change threats, from 2100 to 2050, because of what they said were uncertainties in long-term climate models. A government assessment based on that shortened time span concluded lynx populations had increased versus historical levels in parts of Colorado and Maine.
The proposed recovery plan comes two days after the Biden administration announced protections for another snow-dependent species — the North American wolverine. That came in response to scientists’ warnings that climate change will likely melt away the wolverines’ mountain retreats and push them toward extinction.
veryGood! (34272)
Related
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Five people, dog killed after RV and semi collide on Pennsylvania interstate
- After seven seasons in the minors, Wes Wilson hit a home run in his first career at-bat
- Stop Waiting In Lines and Overpaying for Coffee: Get 56% Off a Cook’s Essentials Espresso Maker
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- What’s driving Maui’s devastating fires, and how climate change is fueling those conditions
- New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver to lie in state in the capitol rotunda
- Northwestern football coaches wear 'Cats Against The World' T-shirts amid hazing scandal
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Harvest of horseshoe crabs, needed for blue blood, stopped during spawning season in national refuge
Ranking
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Brody Jenner's Mom Reacts to His Ex Kaitlynn Carter's Engagement
- Why we love P&T Knitwear, the bookstore that keeps New York's Lower East Side well read
- Monitoring Air Quality as a Lesson in Climate Change, Civic Engagement and Latino Community Leadership
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Summer School 5: Tech and the innovator's dilemma
- Malika Andrews to replace Mike Greenberg as ESPN’s NBA Finals host, per report
- Taylor Swift is electric at final Eras concert in LA: 'She's the music industry right now'
Recommendation
Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
Man killed during FBI raid in Utah posted threats online against Biden, sources say
When is the next Mega Millions drawing? Record-breaking jackpot resets to $20 million
At least 27 migrants found dead in the desert near Tunisian border, Libyan government says
The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
Number of Americans applying for jobless aid rises, but not enough to cause concern
Vehicle strikes 3, fatally injuring 1 in service area of Los Angeles car dealership, official says
Lawsuit says Tennessee’s US House and state Senate maps discriminate against communities of color