Environmental notebook

Proposal targets endangered fish

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a final recovery plan for the yellowcheek darter fish in north-central Arkansas.

The service listed the fish as endangered in 2011, and it can be found only in the four forks of the Little Red River separated by Greers Ferry Lake. It’s threatened by climate change and nearby land uses, such as mining and improper timber harvests, according to the plan issued this month.

The plan states that the fish will recover by reducing those threats, encouraging voluntary soil and water conservation practices within the Little Red River’s watershed, and captive breeding, among other things.

Estimated costs of the entire recovery plan are at least $45,320,000 over 30 years, according to the service, but most individual actions cost only $50,000 to $75,000 over five-year periods. The multimillion-dollar projects will protect “the habitat integrity and quality of stream reaches” for the yellowcheek darter, the plan says.

More information about the recovery plan can be found at https://bit.ly/2mlEpUx.

Agency accused of mussel apathy

The Center for Biological Diversity has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming it has not protected critical habitat for four endangered species of freshwater mussels in 18 states, including Arkansas.

The center argues the service has not protected the rayed bean, sheepnose, snuffbox and spectaclecase mussels because it has not designated “critical habitat” areas since they were declared endangered in 2010 and 2012.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., says such designations were required to occur within one year of endangered species listing.

The snuffbox mussel is found in Arkansas, 13 other states and Ontario, Canada. The spectaclecase mussel is found in Arkansas and 13 other states.