WASHINGTON - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reopen public comments about a proposal to designate hundreds of miles of Arkansas rivers and streams as critical habitat for two freshwater mussels found across the state, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor’sstaff announced Thursday.
The Association of Arkansas Counties, the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, the Arkansas Legislature and Gov. Mike Beebe joined all six of Arkansas’ congressional lawmakers in January to ask for a smaller protection zone for the less-than-6-inchlong mussels. In a letter, the delegation asked the agency to answer several questions about the designation before moving forward.
Critics say the “critical habitat” designation would lead to burdensome restrictions on how several landowners and businesses operate.
In September, the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Neosho mucket as an endangered species and the rabbitsfoot mussel as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Because of Arkansans’ concerns, it has stopped short of establishing a critical-habitat designation for both species, which would protect certain areas where the mussels live.
The proposed Arkansas habitat for the Neosho mucket and the rabbitsfoot mussel would put federal oversight on 769 miles of rivers and streams around the state. The Association of Arkansas Counties has previously pushed the Wildlife Service to trim that to about 475 miles.
An endangered species is one in danger of extinction, according to the service’s website. A threatened species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 put the Wildlife Service in charge of conserving the ecosystems of endangered and threatened species, and preventing the extinction of plants and animals.
Association members say that the designation will affect industries such as logging and farming. They also wonder whether farmers will be punished for allowing their cattle to drink and wade in a protected river.
In a letter to county judges and other elected officials last year, the agency said the designation won’t lead to sweeping changes.
“For most landowners, the designation of critical habitat will have no impact. It will not prohibit a farmer from allowing cattle to cool down in a river, or from driving a vehicle through a stream,” wrote Jim Boggs, the Wildlife Service’s Arkansas field supervisor.
On Thursday, agency Director Dan Ashe met with people from the gas, timber, cattle and agriculture industries for about two hours. Association of Arkansas Counties Legislative Director Jeff Sikes said county judges, the Arkansas Farm Bureau and staff members for Pryor and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford also attended.
Sikes said by phone after the meeting that the association welcomes the additional time to comment. He said Fish and Wildlife Service officials seemed willing to listen.
“I think that they are going to bend over backward to make sure that they’ve got the best facts available,” he said. “They don’t want to have any more critical habitat than absolutely necessary. I feel fairly confident that we’ll see a change. I think it’ll just be a matter of degree.”
Sikes said the 60- or 90-day comment period has not begun.Details about where to send comments were not available.
Pryor said in a statement that he is concerned how the designation would affect private landowners.
“I appreciate Director Ashe accepting my invitation to visit our state so he could hear directly from the Arkansans who would be impacted. After multiple letters and conversations, I’m also pleased to hear that Fish and Wildlife will reopen the public comment period. I hope folks from all across the state will join me in sharing their thoughts and concerns,” he said.
Jonah Shumate, Crawford’s chief of staff, said the congressman appreciates that the agency responded to the letter.
“He will keep working to get answers from the Director on the issues raised in the letter, including the type of criteria that went in to determining the original designation,” Shumate said.
Patrick Creamer, U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s spokesman, said the senator is waiting on more information.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/18/2014