Idaho Springsnails taken off protected list

BOISE – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined Monday that a tiny freshwater snail that inhabits a 35-mile stretch of the Snake River is no longer worthy of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision to delist the Idaho Springsnail, considered by some biologists and environmentalists to be an indicator species for healthy aquatic ecosystems, comes 15 years after it was granted endangered status.

In 2004, at the urging of then-Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and the state’s biggest utility, Idaho Power, agency scientists began reconsidering the snail’s protected status based on evidence it inhabited a much broader range than initially believed.

Using genetic testing, scientists concluded the springsnail is not a unique species, and instead should be classified with freshwater snails found in Columbia River sections in Washington and lakes in Oregon and Wyoming. Scientists even created a new species for the snails – pyrgulopsis robusta.

“This newly combined species is distributed over a wider geographic area than in the original listing and does not need ESA protection,” said Jeff Foss, the agency’s field supervisor in Boise.

Frustrated environmentalists say they will begin studying the decision for flawed science or evidence of political interference by Bush administration appointees. Earlier this year, Julie MacDonald, a former Interior Department deputy assistant for fish, wildlife and parks, resigned amid reports she ignored federal scientists and manipulated policy to please the White House.

“We’re disappointed in this decision,” said John Marvel, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project. “We’ll reserve legal judgment right now. But because of past political shenanigans … it suggests that all delistings be looked at with a jaundiced eye with regard to the influence of nonscientists and political appointees.”

The snails’ protected status has long posed an operating challenge for Idaho Power, which operates several hydropower dams in the habitat of the springsnail and four other endangered snails and mollusks along the Snake River.

“The snail and our operations are interlinked,” said utility spokesman Dennis Lopez.

“Our view of this is we’re pleased that one of the five endangered species that affects how we operate has been taken off the list.”