Newsflash
June 24, 2008 – Settlement Could Bring New Habitat Protections to a Desert Plant Threatened With Extinction
The Lane Mountain milk-vetch is no stranger to adversity, with its remarkable ability to survive for years underground and subsist on what little moisture its taproot can soak up. When this small, desert-dwelling plant does have an aboveground presence, it can be found growing intertwined among the branches of other shrubs for support. The Lane Mountain milk-vetch is likewise entangled with the U.S. Army, which is determined to trample this miniature flowering herb and its habitat.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered
YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1998
RANGE: Thirty thousand acres of California’s Mojave desert, mostly contained within the Fort Irwin Military Reservation
THREATS: Military tanks, off-road vehicles, recreational gold mining, increasing wildfire frequency and fire-suppression activities, and military vehicles trespassing onto Bureau of Land Management lands
POPULATION TREND: When the Lane Mountain milk-vetch was listed under the Endangered Species Act, only 50 individuals were known. The U.S. Army has since performed field surveys, identifying approximately 5,000 individuals.
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SAVING THE LANE MOUNTAIN MILK-VETCH
All known populations of the endangered Lane Mountain milk-vetch are found on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management or Department of Defense. One of more than 850 California native plant species at risk of extinction, the Lane Mountain milk-vetch faces a formidable juggernaut: the U.S. Army and its Fort Irwin Military Reservation.
The Center filed a lawsuit that successfully forced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Lane Mountain milk-vetch under the Endangered Species Act. Knowing that critical habitat has been designated for less than 5 percent of California’s threatened and endangered plant species, we anticipated an uphill battle to keep vital milk-vetch habitat intact. After dragging its feet for several years, the Service eventually proposed nearly 30,000 acres as critical habitat for the Lane Mountain milk-vetch.
In a sudden about-face, the Service’s final decision excluded the entire proposed area from protection.The milk-vetch needs places to grow, and we filed a notice of intent to sue the agency over its failure to designate any critical habitat. The plant’s habitat is also important for the threatened desert tortoise. Both species are significantly impacted by military activities in the western Mojave Desert.
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Contact: Ileene Anderson
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