Species at Risk

The Saga of the Vermilion Darter
by Daniel Drennen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The little fish makes its home at the headwaters of Turkey Creek near the small town of Pinson in north-central Alabama. Extensive sampling over a 10-year period found less than 3,500 darters living in small pockets along a 7.2-mile segment of the creek, a tributary of the Black Warrior River watershed. Portions of this stretch of darter habitat, locally known as Blue Hole, The Narrows, and Bull Frog Bend, have been used since settlement for fishing, swimming, milling of corn, and church baptisms. Little did folks know they were sharing the creek with a very rare fish.

In just 10 years, the darter has disappeared from some locations in the creek. Its limited range makes its continued existence particularly vulnerable. Degradation of habitat and water quality due to siltation from development activities, non-point source pollution, and unchecked littering and dumping threaten its future.

In 1998, the building of a county jail was proposed on a 600-acre area adjacent to the creek; its construction would have direct non-point source pollution impacts on the watershed—and the darter. This caused the local community great concern and led them to galvanize support for the protection of Turkey Creek in the form of START (Society to Advance the Resources of Turkey Creek).

In 1998, Bob Reid, a member of the Birmingham Audubon Society, and Paul Blanchard of Samford University, petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to list the vermilion darter pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. For years, START supported and encouraged the process, and in November 2001, the vermilion darter was designated as endangered.

Ultimately, the jail site changed to a location outside the watershed thanks to negotiations by Jefferson County Commission and START. Concurrently, Jefferson County proposed that the area that originally intended to house the jail become a nature preserve.

The Service met with watershed stakeholders, including START and Jefferson County Lands Division, providing information about threats to and the distribution and status of the darter. To lessen threats, START and Jefferson County took advantage of the Service's Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. The program cost-shared bank-side-erosion control, minimizing non-point source pollution within the Blue Hole area. Additionally, the Black Warrior and Cahaba River Land Trusts and the Service identified important lands within the watershed for possible acquisition by the Jefferson County Greenways Project. One such site, Tapawingo Springs, a spawning site for the darter, was purchased by Jefferson County.

Threats to the darter and watershed continue to exist as urban sprawl makes its way north from Birmingham; however, the partnership that has developed among citizens, local government, conservation groups, and the Service is committed to saving the creek for the people and wildlife that use it—and especially for the little vermilion darter.

For more information, contact Daniel Drennen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi Field Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, Jackson, Mississippi 39213, (601) 321-1127, daniel_drennen@fws.gov.

Seeing Spots in a Cascades Meadow
by Charles Korson, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Christopher Pearl, U.S. Geological Survey

Along the eastern front of Oregon's Cascade Range, a partnership has been researching the usefulness of translocation for conserving a rare amphibian: the Oregon spotted frog. Historically, this frog ranged from southernmost British Columbia to the northeast corner of California. Today, its populations occur in only about one-third of the original range. Habitat loss is believed to be the major factor in the reduced distribution.

Translocation efforts were initiated following the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's proposal to restore Wickiup Dam, near the town of Bend, to address public-safety concerns. A drainage ditch that provided breeding, rearing, and adult habitat for a population of 40 to 50 of the frogs would be eliminated during construction. Scientists believed this population was a remnant of a larger population complex that occurred in the upper Deschutes Basin along the eastern Cascades. The ditch's stable temperature and flow conditions may have allowed the population to persist there.

The frog, no larger than the palm of your hand, coalesced representatives from various agencies into a partnership committed to saving it. To guide their efforts, the partners developed a conservation plan calling for population studies, habitat creation, population relocation, and biological monitoring.

To relocate the frogs, new habitat had to be created. Partners found a meadow in the Deschutes National Forest containing vegetation and hydrological conditions similar to other sites where the frog is found. By the end of 2000, they had fashioned six ponds in the marshy meadow using explosives. The ponds ranged from 800 to 8,000 square feet in size and from 2- to 6-feet deep. The relocation process began in 2001. Nine egg masses were conveyed from the ditch to the ponds in the spring, and adult and juvenile frogs, captured by trapping and dip netting, were transported in early summer.

One of the project's objectives was to improve understanding of the frog's homing behavior. Partners placed radio transmitters on eight adult frogs and monitored their location each week in late summer and fall. Preliminary data suggest that none of these frogs left the ponds. Sampling of the ponds throughout the summer found young frogs in ponds where egg masses had been introduced. At the beginning of winter, juvenile and adult frogs were found aggregating in one deep, flowing spring. Freeze-free springs may be important habitat for these frogs during winter. Western toads, Pacific treefrogs, and long-toed salamanders also were found to be using the new ponds, along with great blue heron, osprey, cinnamon teal, and other birds, suggesting the ponds may provide habitat for a diversity of species.

The preliminary results of the translocation have partners feeling cautiously optimistic about establishing a breeding Oregon spotted frog population at the new site. Future work will include breeding surveys, tracking of adults, and monitoring of juvenile recruitment. Partners will monitor this population at least into 2003.

While the final results of the translocation have not yet been determined, one thing is sure: Agencies willing to work together as partners offer hope for rare species conservation.

For more information, contact Christopher Pearl, U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 3200 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, (541) 754-4416, christopher_pearl@usgs.gov.

Alligator Gar: A Long-lived Leviathan
by Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

They are outcasts—much maligned and misunderstood. Despite tremendous sport fishing potential, alligator gar have suffered in the court of public opinion.

Growing to 300 pounds, with a penchant for fish fare, these behemoths have gained an unfair reputation as a nuisance and a threat to game fish. But it is truly an unfair perception according to Kerry Graves, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery in Oklahoma.

"Alligator gar eat rough fish. They eat sick fish easily caught," said Graves. "Game fish benefit from the gar's eating habits. If anything, game fish suffer from the same thing that plagues alligator gar—poor habitat."

Alligator gar are a big-river fish, a top-of-the-food-chain predator once found throughout the Mississippi River and the lower end of its tributaries. Its range has shrunk a great deal. It once occurred in the Ohio River above Cincinnati but hasn't been seen in Ohio waters since the 1940s. Biologists rarely see alligator gar above St. Louis in the Mississippi proper.

Meandering rivers have been turned into sand-bottom, trapezoidal channels devoid of habitat. Spring floods no longer pour into the bottomlands where alligator gar spawn. "Alligator gar are a species in decline, in need of restoration, and there's an information gap that needs to be filled," said Graves.

Ricky Campbell at Private John Allen National Fish Hatchery in Mississippi agrees: "There's a lot we need to know. We still need to learn the basic information, like techniques for spawning, holding, and rearing—things well known for other fishes."

Between the expertise at the two hatcheries, the information gap is closing. They have spawned alligator gar three times and put young fish on feed, but that is just a start. Fish from Private John Allen have already been stocked in the wild for a restoration project in Tennessee. Alan Peterson, biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, sought out Service assistance with alligator gar. "If it wasn't for the Fish and Wildlife Service, there would be no restoration project," said Peterson. "They are the project. We just tell them where to stock the fish."

Over 200 alligator gar were stocked in the Obion River in 1999. It is too soon to know if these long-lived fish survived, let alone reached maturity.

For alligator gar conservation to get traction, partnerships are requisite. A partnership with the private sector has proved essential in Oklahoma. Anglers familiar with alligator gar are gathering data and tagging catch-and-release adults under the guidance of Brent Bristow, with the Service's Oklahoma Fishery Resources Office. Catching the fish hook-and-line is a necessity; a fish that grows to 10 feet long is a challenge for traditional nets and electrofishing gear. The anglers have helped bring alligator gar to Tishomingo where Graves and his staff are engaged in age and growth studies and are trying to determine optimal culture conditions.

Alligator gar conservation typifies the valuable work being done by fisheries professionals: They bring scientific know-how to conservation partnerships. Together, their early intervention bodes well for these leviathans of lazy rivers.

For more information, contact Craig Springer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Fisheries, 500 Gold Avenue, SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, (505) 248-6867, craig_springer@fws.gov.