Valley Longhorn Elderberry Beetle

In 1995, the Yuba County Water District requested permission from the federal government to begin restoration work on 30 miles of levees along the Yuba and Feather Rivers in Northern California. The Army Corps of Engineers arrived on the scene and produced an environmental impact statement for the project. They concluded that since the time that the levees were originally built, numerous clumps of elderberry bushes had grown up in and around the levees. Specifically, 43 clumps of these bushes (made up of 1538 stems) would be disturbed by the work needed to repair the damage that time had done to the levees. After consulting with the Fish and Wildlife Service, it was concluded that while elderberry bushes are not on the list of threatened or endangered species, Valley longhorn elderberry beetles are. As a result, the Service demanded that this potential insect habitat be protected even though no beetles had ever been seen in the area of the restoration work.

The Corps ruled that before any work could begin on the levees, an 80 acre mitigation site would have to be constructed. This mitigation cost $1.9 million. Various state and federal agencies decided that the mitigation site should be constructed on the river side of the Feather River levee, and that it should include a wetland. So, a large pond was dug near the levee even though the local reclamation district objected to the pond's construction, fearing that seepage from the pond could weaken the levee. The Corps insisted that there was nothing to fear.

After the pond was built, increased seepage was noted on the land side of the levee, just as the local reclamation district had predicted. In December 1996, a catastrophic levee failure that claimed three lives occurred at the lower end of the mitigation site. This levee failure flooded approximately 500 homes, 9000 acres of prime farmland, displaced 35,000 people and flooded the four largest employers in one of the poorest counties in the state.

While this catastrophe was terrible, the government's response to this tragedy has been even worse. Because of ESA restrictions, the FWS has barred local governments from making full repairs to the levees until spring. Only temporary repairs are being allowed, and then only those repairs needed to stop the immediate threat of water flowing through the damaged levies. Once the water stops flowing, all repairs must stop until the Fish and Wildlife Service completes their consultation procedures with the Corps. Even though the Service has pledged to "expedite" the process, this will still take at least three to four months.

During that time, people were afraid to return to their homes, farms and businesses. Lending institutions, including FEMA, are reluctant to make or finance needed repairs to these people's homes and businesses because they all fear that the temporary repairs will not withstand expected river flows.

The flooding also caused damage to the mitigation site, requiring $400,000 to repair. This brings to date $2.3 million for mitigation of 43 clumps of elderberries, or $55,800 per clump, or $1495 per elderberry stem.

As a result of the 1997/1997 flood, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified several additional levee sections needing major maintenance and has indicated that mitigation costs must be paid which will require the development of an additional 69 acres of mitigation. If the previous costs hold, this mitigation cost will equal an additional $1.725 million, for a total of $4 million to maintain about 29 miles of existing levies.

"The levees and flood channels are meant to be tools to protect people, property and wildlife habitat from the ravages of floods; not confiscated as habitat by the ESA," says Donn Wilson of the Yuba County Water District. "[The ESA] often prevents or greatly restricts and escalates the cost of needed levee and flood channel inspection, maintenance, and repair."

Congressional Testimony — April 7, 1997



Piping Plover

Three piping plover chicks held several hundred campers hostage at Shinnecock Park East near Southampton, New York.

After several months of close monitoring, the three endangered piping plovers hatched Saturday morning in the dunes above the Southampton beach. To protect them, Suffolk County parks officials closed the park’s main road at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 5 — effectively forcing most of the campers inside to stay until about noon, Sunday, July 6.

The only way out was a steep cut in the dunes, too risky for drivers of most of the 100 large camping vehicles to attempt.

While an extra day or night at the beach might not seem like a hardship, the prospect of being forced to stay indefinitely left some campers livid. But park officials were steadfast: no one could use the road until the birds left their nest and made their way safely to wherever they chose to go.

The Associated Press -- July 7, 1997



Kanab Amber Snail

Brandt Child bought 500 acres of property in Utah in 1990, planning to build a campground and golf course near its three lakes. The next year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told him he couldn't use his property because the lakes were inhabited by 200,000 federally protected thumbnail-sized Kanab ambersnails. The snails differ from other snails only because of their golden color.

A few months later, Mr. Child discovered 10 domestic geese near his ponds. After dutifully notifying federal officials, he was told that if the geese had eaten and snails, he faced a fine of $50,000 per snail! A state wildlife agent and a Highway Patrolman arrived with a shotgun intending to shoot the geese and remove their stomachs to find out if any snails had been eaten.

The only thing that saved the geese was a reporter with the Southern Utah News who showed up and told them that she would photograph the massacre. The agents then decided to back off and finally settled on forcing the geese to vomit. No dead snails were found.

The geese are now safe, but Mr. Child is still out $2.5 million because he can't use his property, and the government refuses to compensate him for his loss.

The Wall Street Journal -- December 27, 1993



Concho Water Snake

The Concho water snake was listed as endangered in 1986 after a number of environmentalists and a college professor from New Mexico convinced the federal government that only 600 to 800 of the snakes still existed.

Very little was known about the snake, and limited field work had been done on the species until 1979. Because the snake was thought to be in low numbers, the State of Texas listed the snake as endangered in 1977. In the same year, the Colorado River Municipal Water District (CRMWD) applied to the Texas Water Commission for a permit to impound water at a site near Stacy.

In an effort to better understand the actual status of the snake, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) conducted a study in 1979 and 1980. Only 135 Concho water snakes were found at that time. Based upon this information the FWS notified the Corps of Engineers in 1983 that the construction of the reservoir would probably threaten the continued existence of the Concho water snake and assigned its own biologists to continue the surveys. In 1985, only 111 Concho water snakes were found by the FWS biologists. The FWS listed the snake as threatened in September of 1986.

In December of 1986 the FWS issued a Biological Opinion on the snake. This opinion reiterated that the snake's existence would be threatened by the reservoir and mandated ten prudent alternatives be implemented by the water district to mitigate the threat. The district reluctantly agreed to these alternatives which cost the water users of the District nearly $9 million.

One of the conditions the water district had to agree to was to conduct a 10-year, $1.5 million study on the snake.

From the survey's start to it's completion in October 1996, field teams found that not only was the snake not in any danger of extinction, they were actually flourishing in many of the manmade structures environmentalist thought would kill them. During their study, the survey team handled 13,997 INDIVIDUAL Concho water snakes. What's even more shocking is that computer estimates by Texas A&M University suggest that figure may represent only about 20 percent of the actual population. Therefore, instead of just the 800 snakes the environmentalists convinced the federal government existed, as many as 70,000 of the snakes may be living throughout West Central Texas.

"We have demonstrated...beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are thousands of the snakes," said John Grant, general manager of the CRMWD. "They are not endangered."

The cost of the $1.5 million study was passed onto the customers of the CRMWD. That financial burden may soon soar, however, because the expense was financed by district revenue bonds, and the interest on those bonds may push the actual price above $3 million. The amount of federal tax dollars spent by the Fish and Wildlife Service on this environmental boondoggle may never be known.

Associated Press -- February 15, 1997