Lynx habitat already guarded

A federal biologist says the management of a small swath of national forestland in North Idaho won’t change if it’s included in a plan to increase the critical habitat for Canada lynx.

Bryon Holt, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the 50-square-mile parcel in the Panhandle National Forest has been managed for lynx since 2000 when they were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

He said adding the title of critical habitat is only “a formality.”

“There won’t be any further management restrictions,” Holt said.

“We’re already doing what we need to be doing.”

The land borders Canada and Montana, and is the only area in Idaho included in the critical habitat designation, Holt said.

Some 1,841 square miles in three national parks in Minnesota, Montana and Washington were designated as critical habitat for the long-haired mountain cat in 2006.

Fish and Wildlife earlier this year proposed expanding lynx critical habitat to 42,753 square miles in those states, Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota and Maine.

Other federal agencies must consult with Fish and Wildlife before approving activities in critical habitat that might affect the species involved.

Fish and Wildlife is accepting public comment on the proposal until April 28.

A final decision could take a year.

Lynx live in boreal and subalpine fir ecosystems that are also home to snowshoe hares, which make up at least 90 percent of the cat’s diet.

Holt said lynx live in North Idaho, but are so elusive their numbers are hard to determine.