Fish Species Antis Tried to Use to Block MVP No Longer Endangered
How many different ways has the Green Industrial Complex used to thwart any energy project in the last 30 years. Does infinity sound about right?
Fish Species Antis Tried to Use to Block MVP No Longer Endangered
ENERGY SERVICES | EQUITRANS/EQT MIDSTREAM | INDUSTRYWIDE ISSUES | PIPELINES | REGULATION | STATEWIDE VA | VIRGINIA
April 2, 2024
Roanoke logperch
Going back nearly six years, Big Green tried to block construction of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in Virginia by arguing some of the stream crossings threatened the very existence of the Roanoke logperch, a large “darter” fish that grows to about 6 inches long (see our Roanoke logperch stories here). The Roanoke logperch is on the endangered species list and green leftists claimed MVP would finish it off. They lied. Yesterday, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) said the Roanoke logperch is no longer in danger of extinction and should be removed from the endangered species list.
From the Roanoke Times:
The Roanoke logperch, an endangered species that lives in the path of major projects such as the Mountain Valley Pipeline and a city flood control plan, is no longer at risk of extinction.
That’s according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is proposing that the fish be removed from its endangered species list.
Populations of the darter, recognizable by an orange band on its dorsal fins, are now found in 31 streams in Virginia and North Carolina, compared to just 14 when it was declared endangered in 1989.
“Our review of the best available scientific and commercial data indicates that the threats to the Roanoke logperch have been eliminated or reduced to a point that the species no longer meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species,” the Fish and Wildlife Service said in a notice to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register.
The service will accept public comments for 60 days before taking final action.
The logperch feeds and spawns over pebbles, gravel and cobble at the bottom of streams and rivers. With its noticeably bulbous snouts, the fish overturn small pebbles and shells when hunting for invertebrates.
Development projects that produce large amounts of sediment can damage the fish’s feeding grounds by covering it with silt.
In 2003, a Fish and Wildlife Service official raised questions about harm to the fish that could occur under a plan to reduce flooding of the Roanoke River by cutting into its banks and widening the river channel.
Plans were adjusted to reduce instream construction traffic, minimize silt and closely monitor water quality, according to a 43-page summary of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project was completed in 2012.
More recently, opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have said that digging trenches for a 42-inch diameter steel pipe – which makes nearly 1,000 crossings of streams and wetlands in Southwest Virginia and West Virginia – will damage the habitat of the logperch and other protected species.
As part of the approval process for the 303-mile pipeline, the Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a detailed analysis that found the project was not likely to jeopardize the log perch and a second endangered fish called the candy darter. A biological opinion from the service also found there would be no significant harm to three other protected species: the Indiana bat, the northern long-eared bat and the Virginia spiraea, a flowering shrub native to southern Appalachia.
Environmental groups challenged the opinions in court. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice struck down the findings, forcing the service to conduct additional research before it reached the same conclusion.
A lawsuit contesting a third biological opinion was dismissed last year, after a law passed by Congress fast-tracked completion of the controversial pipeline and limited legal action aimed at government permits.
Instead of removing the logperch entirely from its list of protected species, the Fish and Wildlife service should downgrade its status to a threatened species, said Tierra Curry, a conservation biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that took legal action.
“While it’s good news that the Roanoke logperch is moving toward recovery, it’s short-sighted to move these fish from endangered to unprotected, especially when the Mountain Valley Pipeline is going to pollute their habitat,” Curry wrote in an email.
A call and an email to the federal agency were not returned Monday.
The Fish and Wildlife Service report mentions pipelines generally as one of the sources of pollution that impact the logperch, but it makes no specific mention of the Mountain Valley project.
The removal of multiple dams and other barriers to water flow in Virginia and North Carolina is listed as one of the reasons for the fish’s recovery.
In Virginia, the logperch can be found in the rivers and larger streams in the upper Roanoke, Smith, Pigg, Otter, and Nottoway River systems and in Goose Creek.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials plan to monitor the Roanoke logperch for at least five years after it is removed from the list of protected species, the report stated, “to detect any change in status that would indicate it needs additional conservation or should be relisted.” (1)
USFWS announcement from yesterday proposing to remove the Roanoke logperch from the endangered species list:
Based on a review of the best available science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has determined that the Roanoke logperch, a large freshwater darter, is no longer at risk of extinction. The Service is proposing to remove the fish from the endangered species list.
The Roanoke logperch, or Percina rex, is known as the king of the darters because of its size relative to others in the family. These fish grow to six inches long, on average, have strongly patterned fins and can be identified by the orange band on their dorsal fins. This band is particularly bright on mature males. Roanoke logperch have noticeably bulbous snouts, which they use to overturn small pebbles and shells when hunting for invertebrates.
These resourceful fish will use all parts of the stream over the course of their lifetimes. They need fast-moving water for foraging. The quick current washes fine sediment from gravel, leaving small pebbles and shells for logperch to overturn when hunting for food. They will also spawn in these strong currents. The fertilized eggs then float downstream to be distributed among the slower-moving shallow pools at the water’s edge.
When the Roanoke logperch was listed as endangered in 1989, it was found in only 14 streams. In the years since, Roanoke logperch surveys and habitat restoration have more than doubled the species range, with 31 occupied streams as of 2019. It can be found in larger streams in the upper Roanoke, Smith, Pigg, Otter, and Nottoway River systems and Goose Creek in Virginia and in the Dan, Mayo, and Smith River systems and Big Beaver Island Creek in North Carolina.
This delisting is largely a result of successful Roanoke logperch surveys and aquatic-restoration projects led by the Service and its partners. With help from the Service’s National Fish Passage Program, Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration settlement funds, Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program funds, and/or funding provided by other partners, multiple dams and barriers have been removed in both Virginia and North Carolina, connecting hundreds of miles of Roanoke logperch habitat. Nationwide, the program has helped remove over 3,400 barriers to aquatic connectivity and reopened access to over 61,000 stream miles.
In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) invested an additional $200 million for fish passage projects over the next five years. In the past two years, the Service and its partners have started 35 Infrastructure Law-funded fish-passage projects that support the recovery of more than 40 endangered and threatened species.
In coordination with its partners, the Service is developing a plan to monitor the Roanoke logperch for no less than five years after delisting, to detect any change in status that would indicate it needs additional conservation or should be relisted.
The Service encourages any interested parties to provide input and substantive comments during the 60-day comment period. The proposal to remove the Roanoke logperch from the Endangered Species Act will publish in the Federal Register April 2, 2024. (2)
And yet another lie of the left falls…
(1) Roanoke (VA) Times/Laurence Hammack (Apr 1, 2024) – Roanoke logperch no longer an endangered species, agency finds
(2) U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Apr 1, 2024) – Proposal to delist Roanoke logperch