A tiny, colorful fish that lives in the desert
springs and marshes of western Utah is on the rebound – without
ever having been listed as threatened or
endangered.
The algae-feeding least chub once
lived throughout Utah’s West Desert, but by the early 1990s, the
fish were found only in four ponds along the Utah-Nevada
border.
The federal Fish and Wildlife Service had
proposed an Endangered Species Act listing in 1995, just as
Congress placed a moratorium on new listings. So instead, the
agency joined forces with other federal and state agencies and
wrote a conservation agreement for the species. Though a
conservation agreement can’t require new protections for a species,
it recommended that local ranchers rotate their pastures and fence
cattle out of springs. It also said that the agencies should
reintroduce the fish to nearby Fish Springs National Wildlife
Refuge and conduct an intensive search for other
populations.
The result? Fish Springs’ 230
original transplants now number 3,000, says refuge manager Jay
Banta, and biologists have found two new populations in western
Utah. Fencing has also helped to protect the fragile springs from
cattle.
Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jim
Muck has concerns about conservation agreements, since they lack
legal teeth, but in this case, he says, the plan has worked. “The
least chub is definitely in better shape than it was prior to the
plan. We reversed some of the troubling trends that were going on.”
There’s still a lot of local opposition to the
plan. But Ed Alder, whose 100 head of cattle will be fenced away
from the springs, says the agreement benefits the local ranching
community.
“I discussed with state biologists
what the chub needs, we sat down and talked about my needs as a
rancher, and we figured ways to accommodate both needs,” Alder
said. “I think it is a win-win situation.”
*Jeff Schmerker
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The least of these.
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