WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, May 11, 2006
First Endangered Species Day - Endangered Plants and Wildlife are a Vital Part of State Heritage

Presence of Aplomado Falcons, and other endangered species are a cause for celebration
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM - Less than a week after the Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating today as the nation's first-ever Endangered Species Day, an Aplomado Falcon was sighted on Otero Mesa, less than two miles from where a pair of the rare falcons was spotted last August. A biologist hired to conduct falcon surveys by the Department of Defense photographed the falcon, perched on a soaptree yucca in Chihuahuan Desert habitat. The Aplomado Falcon, thought to have disappeared from the U.S. by the 1950s, is testimony to the wisdom of providing a safety net to wildlife and plants on the brink.

Scientists, elected officials, conservation groups, and business leaders will celebrate Endangered Species Day at the Rio Grande Nature Center, at an 11:15am press conference. Also in attendance will be a peregrine falcon.

"We celebrate the first-ever Endangered Species Day with Aplomado Falcons reclaiming New Mexico's blue skies," stated Dr. Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. Rosmarino stated, "Falcons and other endangered wildlife remind us of our state's rich natural heritage."

Aplomado Falcons have now been observed at least ten times over the past eight months, the most extensive and frequent rate of sightings for at least fifty years. Aplomado Falcons established a breeding territory in New Mexico's boot heel in 2000, resulting in Endangered Species Act protections for their habitat in that area. In late July 2002, for the first time in fifty years, wild falcons successfully bred in the wild in New Mexico, fledging three young. Falcons were observed in the boot heel territory as recently as this February.

Other endangered species highlights in New Mexico include:

• More than 100 Bald Eagles find key wintering habitat on and near Navajo Reservoir, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and elsewhere along the Rio Grande and San Juan Rivers.
• The Mexican Wolf now inhabits the richly diverse Gila wilderness, along with the Chiricahua Leopard frog and endangered fish: the Loach Minnow, Spikedace, Gila Chub, and Gila Trout.
• Endangered fish, springsnails, and fairy shrimp find vital refuge on the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, whose unique features, including sinkholes, playa lakes, seeps, and gypsum springs host species found nowhere else on Earth.
• The Canada lynx historically found habitat in the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains in the northern part of the state and, in recent years, individuals have traveled into northern New Mexico from a reintroduction area in southern Colorado.
• Some of the largest remaining populations of the Mexican Spotted Owl are found in New Mexico, including areas in the Sacramento Mountains and the Gila. These owls require intact canyon and mountain forest, mountain meadows, and streamsides.
• The continued existence of the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow and Pecos Bluntnose Shiner are symbols of the endangered Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers, respectively, on which they depend.
• The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher finds vital habitat throughout the state's riparian areas, nesting in willows with a scattered cottonwood overstory. Riparian areas are arteries of life, providing habitat to 75% of wildlife in the region.
• The Sacramento Prickly Poppy and Sacramento Mountains Thistle are testament to the diversity of life found in the Sacramento Mountains (other endemics there - which are not yet federally protected - are the Sacramento Mountains Salamander and Sacramento Checkerspot Butterfly).
• Found only in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the Holy Ghost Ipomopsis is to a single canyon consisting of fewer than 5,000 individuals. Also restricted in range is the Mesa Verde Cactus, with lovely pale yellow flowers.
• The Pecos Sunflower is found in cienegas on the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Bottomless Lakes State Park, Blue Hole Cienega near Santa Rosa. This plant is noted for its beauty and high tolerance for alkaline soils.

"New Mexico's rich natural heritage is cause for celebration, and the Endangered Species Act provides a vital safety net to the Land of Enchantment," stated Rosmarino.

Conservation groups in attendance at today's press conference include Animal Protection of New Mexico, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered Species Coalition, WildEarth Guardians, League of Conservation Voters, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club.

For more background information, including the list of ten Aplomado Falcon sightings that have occurred in 2005 and 2006, contact Nicole Rosmarino at nrosmarino@fguardians.org or 505-699-7404.