Las Vegas – American wildlife officials want to extend federal protections to A rare snowfish that environmentalists say that it is “barely clinging to existence” due to the rapid pumping of groundwater in a remote region that experiences extreme drought conditions.
The proposal of the United States fishing and life service to list the Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub As an in danger of extinction is It is expected to publish on Wednesday In the Federal Registry, initiating a period of 60 -day public comments.
Marks the first consideration of the Trump administration to list a Endangered species During his second term. The rhythm of the listings decreased dramatically during the first mandate of President Donald Trump.
The Biological Diversity Center demanded in 2023 and obtained an agreement last year that forced the Government to decide for this month if they list the fish under the law of endangered species, which makes it illegal to import, export, possess, transport or kill those species.
Patrick Donnelly, director of the work of the center in the great basin, where the Tui Chub is located, said that Nevada cannot afford to lose more of its native fish species, such as the Meadows Ash Killifish and Raycraft Ranch Springfish that was extinguished decades ago.
“The Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub is barely clinging to existence,” he said in a statement. “I am delighted that these fish are prepared to obtain protections that save lives that they need urgently.”
The olive color fish, which has less than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) long, used to live in half a dozen springs in Fish Lake Valley in southwest Nevada, near the border of California. But now they are in a single spring system between Las Vegas and reindeer that the center says that it is threatened by the pumping of groundwater used mainly for alfalfa production. Other threats include the imminent lithium mining and geothermal energy projects.
While Chub Tui is the “most significant organism” that lives in that pond, Donnelly said that its importance is “much broader than that.” Fish Lake Valley wetlands that support all kinds of wildlife life, including the antílope of the bergin and Bighorn sheep, also depend on the groundwater there.
“If the water level continues to fall and the Chub Fish Lake Valley Tui will extinguish, that all that ecosystem will crash, because it is the same water that holds them both,” Donnelly said. “The Fish Lake Valley Tui Chub could be considered an indicator of the health of all that ecosystem.”
In its proposal, the Wildlife Agency said the designation is justified due to the “destruction and modification” of Tui Chub’s habitat “caused by agricultural production or other land management practices”, as well as the effects of Climate change and competition with invasive species.
At the same time, the Trump administration is seeking to eliminate habitat protections For endangered species and threatened to redefine “damage” in the law of endangered species, which has long included alter or destroy the places that these species live.
The US Fishing and Wildlife Service. And the National Marine Fishing Service said in A proposed rule Issued last month that habitat modification should not be considered damage because it is not the same as intentionally attacking a species, which is called “Toma”.
If adopted, environmentalists say it would lead to the extinction of endangered species due to logging, mining, development and other activities. They argue that the definition of “takes” has always included actions that damage the species, and that the definition of “damage” has been confirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
