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IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1  •  MARCH 2008 59NEWSBRIEFS

Pseudoscience Used to Deny
Protection for Salamanders

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
determined that Siskiyou Mountains
(Plethodon stormi) and Scott Bar (P. asupak)
salamanders do not warrant protection
under the Endangered Species Act. The
finding relies heavily on studies con-
ducted by Timber Products Company, a
major regional landowner who stands to
profit from a lack of habitat-based log-
ging restrictions, to argue that the sala-
manders do not need old-growth forests
to survive.

“The decision to deny the Siskiyou
Mountains and Scott Bar salamanders
protection flies in the face of sound sci-
ence,” stated Noah Greenwald, conserva-
tion biologist with the Center for
Biological Diversity. “The Bush adminis-
tration has become infamous for suppress-
ing science to support resource extraction
and this decision is no exception.”

The finding admits that the only
peer-reviewed science on the habitat
requirements of the salamanders found
that they were closely associated with
old-growth forests. Indeed, the study
conducted by Forest Service researchers
concluded: “… mature to late-seral-for-
est attributes provide optimal habitat for
the Siskiyou Mountains Salamander”
and “… stands of mature and older
forests evenly distributed and intercon-
nected across the geographical range of
this species would likely best insure its
long-term viability.” Yet in their finding,
Fish and Wildlife repeatedly discounted
these conclusions by relying on unpub-
lished timber industry studies to con-
clude that the salamanders “persist in a
wide variety of habitat conditions.” They
rely on these studies despite acknowledg-
ing that they were not based on system-
atic unbiased sampling, were never peer-
reviewed, and were conducted by the
timber industry. This kind of selective
reliance on science has become all too
characteristic of the agency under the
Bush administration.

“The Bush administration has
slammed the door on protection of
endangered species,” said Joseph Vaile,
Campaign Director for Klamath-
Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “The
Siskiyou Mountains and Scott Bar sala-

manders need the safety net of the
Endangered Species Act to survive.”

To date, the Bush Administration
has protected just 58 species, which is the
fewest number in the history of the
Endangered Species Act, and hardly
compares to the 522 species protected
under the Clinton Administration or
231 protected under Bush Sr.’s
Administration. The administration has
not listed a single species for 625 days —
by far the longest drought in the history
of the Act — and has denied or delayed
protection for literally hundreds of

imperiled species, including these two
salamanders.

Denial of protection for these rare
salamanders comes at a time when federal
land managers and the state of California
are weakening protections. The Forest
Service has eliminated the Survey and
Manage Program, which required surveys
and protection for the salamanders, the
Bureau of Land Management is in the
process of revising their land management
plans for western Oregon to eliminate
reserves created by the Northwest Forest
Plan, and the California Fish and Wildlife
Commission is considering removing pro-
tection for the salamanders, which are cur-
rently listed as threatened species under
the California Endangered Species Act.

“We’re just beginning to understand
these unique salamanders that breathe
through their skin and primarily live
under the cover of old-growth forests,”
stated Scott Greacen, Public Lands
Coordinator for the Environmental
Protection Information Center. “Yet,
despite the fact that protections for the
salamanders are highly uncertain, Fish
and Wildlife has refused to even conduct
a status review to determine if federal
protection is necessary.”

N E W S B R I E F S

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deter-
mined that the Scott Bar Salamander (P. asu-
pak) does not warrant protection under the
Endangered Species Act.

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Additional Background Information
The Endangered Species Act is one of America’s most important environmen-
tal laws, providing a safety net for wildlife, fish, and plants that are on the
brink of extinction. The law requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to
protect the places these species call home, and to use the most rigorous sci-
ence available when making management decisions. The Endangered Species
Act has prevented the extinction of the American Bald Eagle, Coho Salmon,
the Gray Wolf, and hundreds of other animals and plants.

Endangered Species Act protections for the salamanders are necessary,
in part, because the Administration has eliminated other environmental safe-
guards. The salamanders were formerly protected under a provision of the
Northwest Forest Plan called the “Survey and Manage” Program, which
required the Forest Service and BLM to conduct surveys for the salamander
and protect its habitat. The Bush Administration eliminated the Survey and
Manage Program on 23 March 2004 to expedite logging of old-growth for-
est. Hundreds of northwestern wildlife species are threatened by the
Administration’s jettisoning of Survey and Manage protections (see
www.endangeredearth.org/library/nwfp-saving-the-pieces.pdf). The Survey
and Manage Program has been reinstated by court order, but the Bush
Administration is in the process of conducting the necessary environmental
review to again eliminate the important protections provided by the Program.



60 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 1  •  MARCH 2008 NEWSBRIEFS

St. Catherine’s Island 
Sea Turtle Program

The St. Catherine’s Island Sea Turtle
Program (SCISTP) is dedicated to the
study of the interactions of coastal geol-
ogy, biology, and human development on
the nesting ecology of Loggerhead Sea
Turtles (Caretta caretta). The website (cre-
ated in 1995, revised in 2007) presents an
overview of marine turtle nesting habitat
and ecology, classification, and reading of
Georgia Loggerhead nests, morphology
of sea turtle nests deposited in Georgia,
protocols used in nest conservation by the
SCISTP, a summary of traces and trace
fossils left by nesting Loggerhead Sea
Turtles, including a description of the
World’s only described fossilized sea tur-
tle nest from the Cretaceous of Colorado,
and models, activities, and downloadable
products for science education based on
sea turtle conservation. Created in 1990,
the program contributes to better under-
standing and management of Loggerhead
Sea Turtle nests in Georgia through
“Conservation, Research, and
Education.” For more information, visit
the web site at www.scistp.org.

Natural Areas Protected in the 
British Virgin Islands

The System Plan for the BVI has passed
Cabinet review and will be approved at
the next convenient sitting of the House
of Assembly. A formal announcement
will be made by the government in the
near future. The document provides the
context and sets aside a number of natu-
ral areas for protection throughout the
BVI. All areas as proposed in the docu-
ment (marine and terrestrial) were
approved. Its ultimate passage in the
House of Assembly will allow for the
expansion of the network of protected
areas for the natural and economic bene-
fit of Virgin Islanders.

The National Trust congratulates
and expresses a heartfelt thanks to all

who in some way aided in assessing areas
and subsequently mapping them, collab-
orating in various meetings with govern-
ment and the public, who drafted or
revised the multiple versions of the doc-
ument, who lobbied for its passage and
met with various officials, and who pro-
vided support for the 27 years it took to
pass the system plan. This is a major
achievement of which we should be
proud and which we should celebrate.

Rare Victory for 
Madagascar Tortoises

The Ploughshare Tortoise (Geochelone
yniphora) is the rarest tortoise in the world.
Conservationists are celebrating a double
victory over tortoise smugglers in
Madagascar. Earlier this month, a
Nigerian man was arrested with 300 tor-
toises and another 20 have been returned
to their habitat after being seized on a
neighboring island. But campaigners’ relief
might not last long. The live animal trade,
particularly in reptiles, is big business.

The island’s unique wildlife also
attracts financial interest. The haul of
300 seized from a house after a tip-off
may be the largest in the world, conser-
vationists say. Collectors could have net-
ted as much as $200,000 (£100,000) for
them in exotic pet markets.

Eight of the tortoises saved were of
the rarest species in the world.
Conservationists believe that only about
1,000 Ploughshare Tortoises (Geochelone
yniphora) remain. They live in a small area
of northwestern Madagascar, and the loss
of even a small number would be devas-
tating. According to the Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Trust, the Ploughshare will

be extinct within 10 years if they continue
to disappear at the current rate.

It is a global trade. The Nigerian
man, who faces up to 10 years if con-
victed, was found with three passports
with three different names from three
different countries. The reptiles could
have been bound for rare animal markets
in Bangkok, Thailand. Although tor-
toises are protected, some species are still
eaten in parts of the country, but the real
risk is from international collectors. To
buy a tortoise to eat might cost $10 (£5).
To buy one as a pet might cost you
$10,000 (£5,000). “Why do people do
it? If you’re talking about Malagasy peo-
ple, they are poor, so they can easily be
attracted by big bucks from the smug-
glers,” says Hasina Randriamanampisoa
of the Durrell Wildlife Trust. “As far as
foreigners are concerned, well I can imag-
ine, some people are so rich they just
want something rare in their possession.”

Felicitee Rejo Fienena, who works for
the government in southern Madagascar,
wants more to be done to protect wildlife.
“If buyers continue to exist on the inter-
national market, then collectors will con-
tinue to exist in Madagascar,” she says.

The game of cat-and-mouse between
collectors and the authorities continues.
People trying to protect the tortoises here
are wary of advertising the sheer value of
the trade for fear of attracting even more
fortune hunters to the island. On the
other hand, if they do not draw attention
to the threat, the desirability of certain
species may lead to their extinction.

Jonny Hogg
BBC News, Antananarivo

The St. Catherine’s Island Sea Turtle Program
(SCISTP) is dedicated to the study of the
interactions of coastal geology, biology, and
human development on the nesting ecology
of Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta).

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Ploughshare Tortoises (Geochelone yniphora) are among the rarest tortoises in the world, with an
estimated 1,000 remaining.

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