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Minnesota's Canada Lynx

The saga began in 2000 and continues through 2006

Lynx kittens' lag worries experts

By Jeremy P. Meyer
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/09/2006 01:00:00 AM MDT

The number of lynx kittens born in the wild in this year dropped 75 percent, leading state wildlife officials to halt the animal's reintroduction program until they figure out why.

This spring, biologists found four dens with 11 kittens, compared with 18 litters with 50 kittens in 2005 and 14 litters with 39 kittens in 2004.

"There is no way that we can say what the issue is," said Tanya Shenk, researcher with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "It could just be an off year. It could be as simple as that."

The lynx program has been among the most successful in reintroducing endangered species to the wild.

The cat with the distinctive tuft of hair on its ears had disappeared from the southern Rocky Mountains by the early 1970s.

In 1999, lynx began to be relocated in remote areas of the San Juan Mountains. More than 200 lynx from Alaska and Canada have been released.

Researchers have found 116 kittens in winter and spring searches from 2003 to 2006.

This spring a lynx born in Colorado in 2004 produced kittens - a first since the reintroduction program began, according to the Division of Wildlife.

"When you're getting into wildlife biology, it's a very dynamic situation up there," said Joe Lewandowski, a division spokesman. "It takes a lot of years to know what is going on."

In the first year, many of the cats were dying after being released and the protocol was changed, allowing the lynx to feed, be released later in the spring and acclimate to the environment, Lewandowski said.

"Mortality went way down," he said. "They were finding plenty of prey, and reproduction shot up substantially."

Now, researchers want to know whether the lack of kittens is an aberration or a real problem.

Mortality rates haven't increased, and most cats are staying in their established territories, wildlife officials say.

Examinations of dead lynx show the cats had lived healthy lives and were getting enough to eat.

One theory on the decline in kittens is that newly reintroduced cats are interfering with established social structures, said Shenk.

"We have a high number of lynx in the state, and as we put new adults in the spring, they have to find a territory," she said. "They may be interrupting the social structure."

Eventually, any species may level off in numbers because their habitat only supports so many, she said.

Jacob Smith, executive director of the Center for Native Ecosystems, said a key for the animal's survival was protecting more lynx habitat.

"We all know and the biologists know that the missing piece in this is the habitat protection," he said.

Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1201 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4153333

 

5/25/05

 

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL 
PLACING ENDANGERED LYNX IN HARM'S WAY
Recovery of Federally Protected Species Jeopardized by Unrestricted Trapping

Washington, DC - A bill passed by Minnesota's state legislature authorizes snaring of the federally threatened lynx without even a permit, in violation of the federal Endangered Species Act, according to Defenders of Wildlife.

"A small population of lynx was just recently verified in Minnesota, yet the Minnesota legislature has already moved to allow these beautiful wildcats to be trapped" stated Mike Leahy, Staff Attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. "This misguided bill completely ignores the fact that it is illegal to kill or harass federally endangered and threatened species." In addition to failing to protect lynx, confusion over this law could easily misinform the public that this illegal activity is permissible.

The legislation, HF 847, specifically allows trappers to "use a snare to take lynx or bobcat . . . without a permit." The bill also allows fox to be snared without a permit. The state permit is the mechanism by which the state monitors and manages trapping of these species.

"Any lynx removed from the population under this law - by being illegally targeted or caught in traps targeting bobcat and fox - could severely jeopardize the ongoing federal recovery efforts to stabilize the population," stated Leahy. "Lynx are no match for snares because they are, like most cats, curious creatures and therefore highly susceptible to getting caught in traps.

Lynx were listed as a federally threatened species in 2000 because their numbers declined sharply in recent decades. Causes for the decline include over-trapping, logging and fragmentation of their habitats, and a lack of legal protections. 

"Why Minnesota's legislature approved Senator Pariseau's plan to eliminate permits for trapping the state's wildcats is unclear, but what is clear is that it is now up to Minnesota's governor to veto this bill," Leahy continued. 

Lynx are a beautiful and reclusive wildcat, a relative of both the bobcat and the housecat, with long tufts of hair coming off their ears, wide facial hair, and long rear legs. They are most known for their defining feature, however - huge paws, which act like snowshoes allowing them to stay on top of the snow when hunting prey in winter. 

The bill was passed by both houses and was delivered to the governor on Tuesday.

###
Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 480,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species
issues.

If you are a resident of Minnesota, you can speak out for the Canada Lynx here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=8357146

Minnesota Lynx

June 07, 2005 — By Associated Press

BRIMSON, Minn. — Lynx No. 13 growled a warning at the researchers who came to weigh and tag her four kittens. The mother lynx watched from 20 feet away, never coming closer but never leaving, as the scientists poked and prodded the 3-week-old kittens, who received ear tags as part of a study that could determine the fate of her species in Minnesota.

The researchers then placed the spotted-gray kittens back under the fallen tree their mother had picked for their den, and quietly walked away.

"We try to keep our time in here to a minimum, keep the intrusion as little as possible. ... But they really don't seem to have any long- term reaction to us," said Ron Moen, lead researcher for the lynx
project for the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota Duluth.

It was only five years ago that some biologists declared lynx all but eliminated from Minnesota. But when they started looking hard, researchers found lynx across St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties of northeastern Minnesota. Last year, a lynx den was discovered in Minnesota for the first time in more than 20 years.

Moen said it's possible that there were indeed no lynx or perhaps just a few in Minnesota in the 1990s. But there's no question the wildcat is making a comeback now.

The presence of more than 60 individual lynx has been confirmed in the state through DNA testing. More lynx DNA samples await laboratory confirmation. And at least four female lynx are currently raising kittens to add to the numbers.

All those confirmations have come in just the three northeasternmost counties. Researchers now have money to expand their search westward across the state and will start looking later this year.

"They've been found as far west as Red Lake for sure, and one was hit by a vehicle near Hinckley. Their range is fairly broad now," said Ed Lindquist, biologist for the Superior National Forest.

Lynx were once common in Minnesota's northern forests. Their numbers rose and fell, apparently following the cycles of their favorite food, snowshoe hares. The cats were heavily trapped until the 1970s.

But after a relative peak in the 1970s, lynx numbers crashed. The decline appeared to coincide with the fall of hare numbers and other factors, including heavy lynx trapping in Canada. That trapping may have reduced lynx populations in southern Manitoba and Ontario, from which new lynx could stage a push back into Minnesota.

But lynx didn't rebound even when hares did. The state ended trapping in 1984. In 2000, the federal government added lynx to the threatened species list across the United States because lynx numbers also had crashed in the mountain west and in Maine.

One factor might be competition from other predators, especially bobcats. Another theory was that global climate change, which is pushing animals such as opossums and raccoons farther north into northern Minnesota, may also be pushing lynx north, out of the state. Lynx have an advantage over other hare predators with their ability to run on deep snow. But in years of little snow, a lynx has less of a competitive advantage.

None of those theories seems consistent with the lynx rebound in Minnesota, researchers say.

"I don't think we really know why we're finding so many now," Lindquist said. "We have more hares. But that's not all of it."

The federal government is paying for research and developing a plan to protect lynx to ensure lynx won't become extinct in Minnesota. The government is under court order to put a habitat plan in place later this year to foster the cat's recovery. The current lynx research will probably be the basis of that plan.

Global positioning system collars put on 30 lynx over the past three years have given researchers more than 10,000 location points where lynx have spent time in Minnesota. Four times a day the GPS collars reveal the location of each collared lynx.

Researchers now know that lynx hunt hares in thick stands of young forest that have been logged or burned in recent years. But lynx also spend ample time, especially when having litters, in woods with big, old trees that block the sun.

Determining how much of each habitat is needed will be critical, Moen said.

Lynx No. 13 settled into tangled patch of blown-down spruce and balsam in the Superior National Forest near Brimson, a town about 20 miles northwest of Two Harbors.

It was trapped and fitted with a radio transmitter collar in March 2004. It had a litter of five kittens last summer and now has four more. Three of last year's kittens are still alive. Researchers guess the 25-pound female is now about 4 years old.

Because they're living in a thick pile of downed trees, and because the newborns are nearly odorless, the kittens have a good chance for survival.

Trains, trucks and traps have been the largest cause of death for radio-collared lynx in the project. Only one has been verified as killed by another animal, a fisher, a mammal related to the weasel.

That makes people the biggest threat.

"They are notoriously easy for trappers to trap. And they seem to spend a lot of time around roads ... and at some point they're going to get unlucky," Moen said.

Source: Associated Press

If you are a resident of Minnesota, you can speak out for the Canada Lynx here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=8357146

 

Conservation Groups Ask Minnesota To Protect Threatened Lynx

From State Trapping Program

New Law Eliminating Trapping Permits Greatly Increases Risks

To Critically Threatened Species  10/28/05

Washington, DC - Conservation groups today formally asked the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR ) to take immediate steps to reduce the likelihood that lynx will be killed or injured in traps sanctioned by the state. Since the lynx was listed as “threatened” in March of 2000, numerous lynx have been either killed or injured in traps authorized by the state.

“We are concerned that Minnesota is failing to address known risks to this threatened species, and instead has made the situation worse by supporting the elimination of permit requirements for snares and traps,” stated Mike Leahy, Staff Attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. “In light of these new, looser trapping requirements, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources needs to take immediate action to reduce the likelihood that more lynx will be killed by state-sanctioned trapping.”

Highlighting the agency's neglectful treatment of lynx, MN DNR actively supported passage of a state law which lifted the long-standing requirement to obtain a permit for certain trapping activities. The new law, passed on June 3, 2005 , explicitly allow trappers to “use a snare to take lynx…without a permit.” The law directly conflicts with federal law prohibiting trapping of lynx as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, so any person who traps a lynx under the state law would still be subject to federal prosecution. But it sends a confusing signal to trappers, who may read the state law as allowing them to snare lynx without attempting to obtain a permit from the state. The law also means that if federal protections are eliminated, the state could immediately change its regulations to allow for the kind of unchecked trapping that nearly wiped out Minnesota 's lynx population in the first place.

The permit requirement was an important way for the MN DNR to monitor trapping. Without this requirement it will be much harder for the agency to know how many traps are being set where, and what the trapping intensity is in lynx habitat and elsewhere, making it more difficult for the agency to gauge and minimize the risks to the lynx. Too much trapping is the main reason Minnesota 's lynx population was nearly wiped out in the first place.

 

 

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS
SIERRA CLUB – NORTH STAR CHAPTER

October 28, 2005

Via First Class Mail/Return Receipt Requested

Gene Merriam
Commissioner
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040

RE: TRAPPING AND TAKE OF LYNX IN MINNESOTA

Dear Commissioner Merriam,

We are writing to request that you take immediate action to remedy the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s (MN DNR) ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq, resulting from take of Canada lynx directly arising out of MN DNR’s trapping program. Since being listed under the ESA as a threatened species, numerous lynx have been taken in traps authorized by the state’s trapping program. These lynx are significant in the context of the small population of lynx the MN DNR has recognized in the state, yet your agency has not taken action to stop or reduce this ongoing take. By authorizing activities that result in lynx take, MN DNR is in violation of ESA Section 9, which prohibits the taking of listed species. We are hopeful that MN DNR will take immediate action to remedy this situation.

BACKGROUND

The lynx is one of the most imperiled mammals in the continental United States. The species lives in coniferous forests of North America where, with the help of its thick fur and wide paws, it is superbly adapted to pursue prey such as snowshoe hare amidst deep snow. Wide swaths of the upper Great Lakes—northern Minnesota in particular—provide the type of forests suitable to lynx for cover, denning, and foraging.

MN DNR’s extensive allowance of trapping at the low end of a lynx population cycle was likely the major factor in pushing lynx below a population level from which they could readily rebound. The State was eventually forced to implement a ban on hunting and trapping of lynx in 1984, although intentional illegal trapping continued at least through 1986. Similar declines nationwide forced the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the lynx as a threatened species under the ESA on March 24, 2000. 50 C.F.R. Part 17.

As a result of recent surveys, lynx have now been verified in Minnesota. Through DNA testing, the presence of more than 60 lynx (not including the discovery of at least four female lynx with kittens) has been confirmed by wildlife biologists of the Superior National Forest. Over the past three years, global positioning system collars put on 30 lynx have provided researchers with more than 10,000 location points where lynx have frequented Minnesota. At the beginning of June, wildlife biologists with the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota-Duluth found 13 lynx kittens in four dens on the Superior National Forest.

STATUTORY FRAMEWORK

Under Section 9 of the ESA, it is unlawful for any person to “take” any endangered species except under circumstances that involve a conservation plan. Id. at §1538(a)(1)(B). The ESA definition of “take” includes to: “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” Id. §1532 (19) (emphasis added).

These prohibitions also apply to threatened species. 50 CFR §17.31(a). Moreover, it is unlawful for any person to “cause [an ESA violation] to be committed.” 16 U.S.C. §1539 (g). The ESA “not only prohibits the acts of those parties that directly exact the taking, but also bans those acts of a third party that bring about the acts exacting a taking. . . a governmental third party pursuant to whose authority an actor directly exacts a taking. . . may be deemed to have violated the provisions of the ESA” Strahan v. Coxe, 127 F.3d 155, 163 (1st Cir. 1997) (emphasis added); see also Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, 639 F.2d 495, 497-98 (9th Cir. 1981) (holding state liable for take caused by its practice of maintaining a population of nonnative feral goats in an endangered species habitat); Defenders of Wildlife v. Administrator, EPA, 688 F.Supp. 1334 (EPA registration of strychnine administered by ranchers leading to poisoning of endangered species a taking under the ESA); National Wildlife Fed'n v. Hodel, 23 Env't Rep.Cas. (BNA) 1089, 1092-93 (E.D.Cal.1985) (USFWS authorization of lead shot resulting in secondary poisoning of bald eagles held to be a taking.).

DISCUSSION

MN DNR IS IN VIOLATION OF ESA SECTION 9 FOR AUTHORIZING ACTIVITIES TAKING LYNX

MN DNR is disregarding the documented taking of lynx in traps it has authorized. Lynx are being killed and injured in traps set for such target animals as fox, bobcat, fisher, and marten. Since November 7, 2002, there have been at least 11 documented lynx takes resulting from MN DNR-authorized trapping. These occurrences have resulted in at least 4 confirmed lynx deaths as well as multiple injuries. The location of these incidents are far-reaching throughout Minnesota, ranging through St. Louis, Lake, Cook, Koochiching, and Clearwater counties. For example, on May 5, 2005, a lynx was found dead in an advanced state of decomposition in a trap 10 miles Northwest of Lutsen in Cook County. These are documented accounts only. The number of lynx taken in traps in Minnesota is likely much higher due to a failure to report each incident.

Should MN DNR continue to refuse to adopt preventative measures, future take of lynx will likely worsen due to the elimination of trapping permit requirements as discussed below. This will inhibit the conservation and recovery of the lynx population in Minnesota. The near certainty that additional lynx will be taken as a result of state-sanctioned trapping is a further violation of the ESA’s prohibition on take. It is “clearly conceivable that one can inflict great harm on a protected species by creating an imminent threat of harm to that species . . . such a threat therefore falls easily within the broad scope of Congress’ definition of ‘take.’” Forest Conservation Council v. Rosboro Lumber Co., 50 F.3d 781, 783 (9th Cir. 1995). “[A] showing of future harm to a protected species creates an irrefutable presumption that the threatened harm is irreparable.” Loggerhead Turtle v. County Council of Volusia County, 896 F. Supp. 1170, 1180 (M.D. Fla. 1995).

REASONABLE TRAPPING METHODS CAN REDUCE AND POSSIBLY AVOID FURTHER TAKING OF LYNX

A majority of the incidental lynx take occurrences involve lynx that get entangled
in traps set for other animals, most commonly bobcat, fox, fisher, and marten. MN DNR can significantly reduce lynx take if these lethal devices are restricted and altered toward more targeted trapping methods.

For example, a MN DNR requirement that trappers use only species-specific traps in lynx habitat will reduce, if not eliminate, incidental lynx take. The #220 body-grip trap often used for taking fisher, bobcat, and marten has taken lynx at ground sets in Minnesota. Using a #220 as an all-purpose set that will trap anything and everything is irresponsible, especially because, according to Minnesota’s 2005 Hunting and Trapping Regulations, “[a]ny trap capable of capturing a protected animal…must be tended at least once each calendar day, except for body-gripping or conibear-type traps” (emphasis added). This exemption from the daily check requirement poses extra risks to captured animals, including lynx.

A trap of this size is not needed at ground sets to take the targeted animals. A smaller trap, such as a #120, will more likely ensure that lynx take will not occur, as lynx are much less likely to get caught in these smaller traps. A requirement that trappers set #120s in trees at bait boxes when appropriate will further decrease the chance that these sets will take lynx. Additional strategies for eliminating lynx take include reducing trapping seasons in order to reduce lynx exposure to traps, and increasing the ability of Conservation Officers to monitor traps and remove inappropriately trapped animals.

We have particular concerns about the use of snares as an alternative to traps, as they pose risks above and beyond traps due to lack of oversight and low cost. Snares are so cheap and easy to use that we understand many are simply set and abandoned, posing ongoing deadly threats to lynx and other animals. We further understand that trappers do not check snares on a legal schedule, often leave snares unattended for extended periods, and do not generally report and treat by-catch as legally required. Even more so than with other traps, when implemented irresponsibly, snares cause considerable suffering and death to many non-targeted species. Not enough information exists to confidently develop ways to minimize the risk that snares pose.

THE RECENT ELIMINATION OF PERMIT REQUIREMENTS WILL INCREASE LYNX TAKE

With the active support of MN DNR, revisions to Minnesota’s snaring bill - HF 847, Chapter no. 146 - were approved on June 3, 2005. This law now explicitly allows snaring of bobcat, fox, and lynx without a permit. This legislation effectively preempts Minnesota Rule 6234:1500, which would otherwise have prohibited taking lynx. While MN DNR still administratively prohibits trapping of lynx according to the 2005 Minnesota hunting and trapping regulations, these administrative protections can be lifted at any time, threatening the lynx with unpermitted trapping as soon as federal protections are removed. Further, trapping of bobcat and fox without any DNR oversight through permits immediately threatens lynx with increased incidental losses in unpermitted traps set for bobcat and fox. Finally, the law’s explicit allowance of permit-free lynx trapping may lead some trappers to conclude lynx trapping is now allowed.

Permit requirements are one of the few tools MN DNR has to monitor and manage trapping activities. Implemented correctly, permits allow MN DNR to monitor where trapping occurs and at what intensity, and assist with documentation of by-catch. At a time when take from trapping is affecting the already limited lynx population in Minnesota, elimination of the permit requirements on similarly situated species will plainly lead to more take of lynx.

Similarly, MN DNR’s ability to monitor untagged snares is currently nonexistent, allowing trappers to violate the required daily snare check and leave snares unattended but still lethal after the trapping season, resulting in the almost certain death of any animal that stumbles into a snare after it has ceased being checked. This, coupled with the fact that most snares cost less than a dollar and are widely accessible, results in take of unknown numbers of target and non-target species. To reduce the use of untagged illegal snares, MN DNR should impose heavier fines for a violation of using (or possessing) snares without identification tags.  Many other states have completely banned the use of snares, including Arizona, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Several other states, such as Colorado, Maine, Illinois, North Carolina, and South Carolina have placed a number of restrictions upon the use of snares. It is time for Minnesota to join these states and protect its wildlife in a proactive manner.

REQUESTED ACTION

We ask that MN DNR take immediate action to remedy take of lynx by restricting trapping practices that are taking lynx, and promoting active protection measures to protect and maintain a viable lynx population in Minnesota. Specifically, we request that MN DNR:

Eliminate use of #220 body-grip traps, approving instead smaller traps such as #120s, and require these traps be set in trees at bait boxes where appropriate;
Provide greater incentives for trappers to report lynx take, and strengthen penalties for unreported lynx take;
Enforce trap and snare identification requirements (as published in the 2005 trapping regulations, p. 51) for taking all wildlife, protected and unprotected;
Destroy existing traps and snares that are untagged;
Implement lynx conservation plans for forest and wildlife areas in MN; and
Uphold the new requirement that all trappers attend trapper education courses before licenses are issued.

We are hopeful that your agency will remedy the situation of lynx take due to the MN DNR’s trapping program. Please contact us if you wish to discuss this letter further.

Sincerely,

Michael T. Leahy
Staff Attorney
Defenders of Wildlife
202-772-0263

Lindsay Melissa
Executive Director
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

Joshua Davis
Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club
North Star Chapter

cc: John Guenther
Director, Division of Fish and Wildlife
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Michael R. Hamm
Director, Division of Enforcement
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Lee Pfannmueller
Director of Ecological Services
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Dan Stinnett
Field Supervisor
Minnesota Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Robyn Thorson
Regional Director, Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Duluth , MN http://www.duluthsuperior.com/

If you are a resident of Minnesota, you can speak out for the Canada Lynx here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=8357146

You can be a voice for the lynx

by sending a similar letter to your congressmen and women at CatLaws.com :

December 27, 2005

Jim Sanders, Forest Supervisor
USDA Forest Service
Superior National Forest
8901 Grand Ave. Pl
Duluth , MN 55808

Re: Request to Protect Lynx from Snares and Traps on Minnesota National Forests.

Dear Mr. Sanders:

I'm writing on behalf of Help Our Wolves Live (HOWL) 1 to ask the USDA Forest Service (FS) to focus its attention on a problem that faces the Canada lynx in Minnesota . Based on the Science Report and the Lynx Conservation Assessment Strategy, which were written in part by FS scientists and biologists, HOWL understands that FS is heavily involved with lynx conservation in the west and we acknowledge that FS has played a large role in lynx conservation since listing was proposed in 1998.
 
However, FS hasn't addressed an issue threatening lynx here in Minnesota . HOWL is asking FS to protect Canada lynx by closing its two National Forests to snaring and other trapping devices and methods that may be used during the trapping season. We ask this because we believe the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) are not adequately protecting the Canada lynx – a protected species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed as Threatened on March 24, 2000. 50 C.F.R. Part 17.

During the 2005 Minnesota legislative session, a bill was passed and signed into law that repealed the prohibition of bobcat snaring in the state (bobcat snaring had been closed for many years). The bill also eliminated the permit previously required to snare fox, bobcat, and lynx. In addition, this bill opened snaring of fox in the farmland zone, which had previously been closed. As a result, Minnesota Statute 97B.625, subdivision 2, read: “A person may use a snare to take lynx or bobcat, as prescribed by the commissioner, without a permit.” This new snaring law clearly demonstrated that the Minnesota legislature and MNDNR were not only ignoring their responsibilities, but also violating ESA law. (Under Section 9 of the ESA, it is unlawful for any person to “take” any endangered species except under circumstances that involve a conservation plan. Id. at §1538(a)(1)(B). The ESA definition of “take” includes to: “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” Id. §1532 (19).

HOWL worked against this bill. While the bill was being heard in a committee hearing on March 8, 2004, a MNDNR staffer, Conrad Christianson, testified on behalf of the snaring bill. I lobbied the authors of the bill on behalf of HOWL, stating that this bill could lead a person to violate the ESA. The new snaring bill became law on June 3, 2005.

During the 2005 Minnesota legislative 1 st special session, likely as a result of attention focused on this new law, all laws involving the taking of lynx were amended, finally providing adequate statutory protection for lynx on August 1, 2005. However, snaring of bobcats and fox without permits still immediately threatens lynx by increasing the risk of accidental take, in addition to traps and/or snares that are set for fisher and marten. Furthermore, legislative protection can be removed, threatening the lynx with even greater snaring and trapping losses as soon as federal protections are removed.

Many lynx have been taken in traps that are authorized within the framework of the state's trapping season. The Canada lynx was listed as a threatened species, under ESA over five years ago. Given that the MNDNR recently supported this snaring bill, which formerly included the lynx, HOWL believes it is critical that FS close all snaring and trapping on its two National Forests in Minnesota to protect lynx, wolves, eagles, and other protected species. Moreover, FS is obligated to take action to protect species listed under ESA.

The lynx population has been suppressed by human-caused mortality for decades. As a result, lynx were nearly extirpated. HOWL's concern is that snares and traps that are intentionally set for bobcats and fox within the two National Forests are a significant danger and threat to Canada lynx recovery. In addition, bobcat snaring will kill more lynx because lynx often use the same habitats as bobcats. Lynx are already subjected to human-caused mortality in Minnesota through the regulated trapping season and use of leg-hold and body-gripping traps. Also, snares and traps set for unprotected coyotes are a potential year around source of lynx mortality.

HOWL is aware that since November 2002 at least 15 snaring, trapping, or shooting incidents involving lynx have been documented in Minnesota , nearly half occurred on the Superior National Forest . Of 6 snaring incidents, 3 were fatal. Two of these incidents occurred on the Superior National Forest and in both cases the trappers involved were warned that snares they had set at certain sites posed an especially high risk to lynx that also used these sites, yet in October 2004 a lynx was killed in one of the trappers' snares. There is also the issue of unattended snare sets, which can kill an animal months after they are set, as appeared to be the case after the 2002 trapping season when a lynx was found dead in a snare. At least 6 lynx have been caught in leg-hold or body-grip traps, 4 on the Superior National Forest ; one died. Three lynx have been shot in Minnesota ; one near Aurora on the first day of the deer season this past November. Undoubtedly, many other trapping, snaring, and shooting incidents have occurred but were not reported and therefore not documented.

A brief history:  Bounty payments on lynx were enacted by the Minnesota legislature from 1951 to 1965. Lynx numbers were decimated during this period and if it hadn't been for the immigration of lynx from the Canadian Provinces, the lynx would have been extirpated in Minnesota . Even after the bounty was repealed in 1965, the lynx remained unprotected in Minnesota until 1977 when a regulated season was finally established. (Harriet Lykken of HOWL was instrumental in finally achieving this legislative protection for lynx. 2 ) In 1983, the limit for lynx was reduced from five to two. In 1984 the season was closed. However, those measures were not enough to provide adequate protection since the population had already been over harvested. In addition, snaring and trapping continued during the low end of the lynx population cycle and the population declined to a level from which it could not readily rebound. During low snowshoe hare periods, lynx must be fully protected from human take in order for them to persist at a viable level.

Recent surveys have verified lynx occurrence in Minnesota . Through DNA testing, wildlife biologists from the Superior National Forest have confirmed more than 60 lynx in the state. In June of this year, lynx researchers with the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota-Duluth found 13 kittens in four dens on the Superior National Forest .

HOWL is concerned for lynx that have died and will die in snares and traps that go unnoticed and un-recovered, as well as for lynx that are involved in take incidents that are not reported. If preventative measures are not taken to stop illegal killing of lynx, many more lynx will die and our lynx population will perish. In closing, I again ask the FS to close its two National Forests in Minnesota to snaring and trapping. In doing so it will protect the vulnerable and fragile lynx population, as well as other federally protected species.

Sincerely,


Linda Hatfield
Executive Director, HOWL 

1 HOWL is a non-profit charitable organization incorporated in 1971 in the State of Minnesota with its principle place of business in Minneapolis , Minnesota . HOWL is a grassroots advocacy group whose purpose is to work for the protection and preservation of the gray wolf and other endangered or threatened species.

2 Harriet Lykken, HOWL's founder, led HOWL until her retirement in 2002. Harriet Lykken was also the Wildlife Chair for the Sierra Club during the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. Among many other accomplishments, in 1975, Harriet promoted the bill that first protected lynx in Minnesota . Her efforts in subsequent years led to legislation protecting bobcats, eagles, badgers, and bears.

cc:
Randy Moore, Regional Forester, Eastern Region

Rick Duncan, Faegre and Benson, LLP

Mike Leahy, Staff Attorney, Defenders of Wildlife

Ray Fenner, Executive Director, Superior Wilderness Action Network (SWAN)

Howard Goldman, Director, Friends of Animal and Their Environment (FATE)
U.S. Representative Martin Sabo
MN Senator Scott Dibble
MN Senator John Marty

MN Senator John Hottinger
MN Representative Michael Paymer

If you are a resident of Minnesota , you can speak out for the Canada Lynx here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=8357146

 

Group wants trapping ban for sake of lynx

1/17/06 Group says trapping aimed at other animals in the Superior and Chippewa forests kills lynx.

BY JOHN MYERS NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Minnesota-based animal welfare group has asked the federal government to ban trapping in Minnesota 's two national forests to stop the accidental killing of lynx. Help Our Wolves Live -- which has taken up the cause of the lynx -- says the ban is needed in the Chippewa and Superior national forests to protect lynx, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. According to HOWL, humans are the leading cause of lynx deaths in Minnesota and may be holding lynx numbers down. Several lynx have been shot, trapped and hit by vehicles in recent months.

Linda Hatfield, executive director of HOWL, said a review of research data shows at least 15 lynx have been trapped, snared or shot in Minnesota over the last 36 months -- nearly half of those within the Superior National Forest .

Of six snaring incidents, three were fatal to lynx. "HOWL's concern is that snares and traps that are intentionally set for bobcat and fox within the two national forests are a significant danger and threat to Canada lynx recovery," Hatfield wrote in a letter to Jim Sanders, supervisor of the Superior National Forest .

The letter also was sent to regional Forest Service officials and state and federal lawmakers.

HOWL noted that Minnesota law was changed last year to allow snaring of bobcats, which the group says may lead to even more lynx killed.

Phil Delphey, endangered species biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said HOWL's numbers appear accurate. "They're close. It's within one or two animals. And the mortality of those (trapped lynx) is somewhere between six to 10 animals," Delphey said Monday.

Delphey acknowledged that more lynx probably have been killed by traps and not reported or discovered. With an estimated 200 lynx now in the state, it's not clear what effect trapping has on the overall population and species recovery.

Sanders said it's not clear whether the Forest Service has any authority to ban trapping on federal land in the forest.

Wildlife management is the purview of the state Department of Natural Resources and, if the species has federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Sanders is preparing a response to HOWL's letter but said no action is pending." The key here is that all three agencies have the recovery of the lynx as a priority," Sanders said. "We're working cooperatively on the issue, and that's the best way to proceed."

Dan Croke, a Duluth trapper and former officer of the Minnesota Trappers Association, said he hears of few lynx being trapped across the north woods. "It's not happening as much as they think. I'm not hearing about (trapped lynx) at all," Croke said. "And if they are

accidentally taken, lynx often can be released. They don't fight the trap."Croke said that further restrictions on trapping in Northeastern Minnesota would be strongly opposed by the trappers association.

It's not the first time environmental groups have claimed trapping aimed at other animals is taking too many lynx. The News Tribune reported in November that Defenders of Wildlife, a national conservation group, along with the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, sent a letter to DNR commissioner Gene Merriam.

The groups asked the DNR to take immediate steps to prevent accidental lynx trapping.

Defenders suggested the DNR require trappers to use smaller traps that are less likely to take lynx, and to ban snares in areas that lynx favor. The groups also called for the DNR to offer greater incentives for trappers to report lynx taken by accident and to improve trapper education.

So far, the DNR has not changed any trapping policy. But DNR officials note that, in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife managers mailed brochures to all licensed trappers in the state explaining how to avoid trapping lynx by accident.

At least five of 32 radio-collared lynx have been trapped in the last three years, researchers report. Two of those were found dead and the others were released or escaped. Some biologists note that such a high percentage of study animals trapped could indicate a major problem.

Lynx were common in northern Minnesota through the early 1980s, although their population fluctuated in cycles that appeared to follow the population of snowshoe hares. Thousands of lynx were legally trapped in Minnesota through the 1970s until their population crashed and didn't rebound.

The state ended trapping in 1984 and the federal government, forced by court orders, added lynx to the threatened species list in 2000.As recently as 2000, DNR biologists said no lynx lived in the state and that any seen here were migrants from Canada . But DNA tests confirm that more than 60 lynx now inhabit the state, with at least three times that many believed to be here.

Duluth News Tribune Tuesday, Jan 17, 2006

Duluth, MN http://www.duluthsuperior.com/

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Defenders of Wildlife Offers $1500 Reward 
for Information on Killing of Threatened Lynx 

Young Radio-Collared Lynx Found Illegally Shot Near Twig, MN  1/26/06

Washington, DC -- Defenders of Wildlife announced today that it is offering a $1500 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for illegally killing a Canada lynx near Twig, MN in November. The Canada lynx is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and killing wild lynx is prohibited by federal law. The most recent killing is one of several that have taken place over the course of the last year, further jeopardizing the future of the threatened cat.

"The lynx is already struggling for survival in Minnesota," said Mike Leahy, spokesperson for Defenders of Wildlife. "Every lynx that is killed sets back the recovery of this rare wild cat."

In addition to illegal killing, Leahy pointed to the numerous other threats facing the lynx, including habitat loss and injury or death in traps set for bobcats, fox, and other animals. Defenders is working with state and federal agencies to address the trapping issue and protect vital lynx habitat.

"The lynx is one of the region's most important predators. It plays a vital role in the health of Minnesota's wilderness areas," said Leahy.

"We applaud the tenacious efforts of local Fish and wildlife Service authorities as they work to stop these senseless killings and bring the perpetrators to justice," added Leahy.

Defenders of Wildlife's $1500 reward is on top of a $500 reward being offered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, bringing the total reward to $2000. Defenders' contribution comes from their Imperiled Predator Reward Fund established in 1998 to bring illegal predator killers to justice.

If you are a resident of Minnesota, you can speak out for the Canada Lynx here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=8357146

1841 square miles protected for Lynx

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - Last updated 3:24 p.m. PT

HELENA, Mont. -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating 1,841 square miles in three states as critical habitat for the threatened Canada lynx.

The territory is far less than the service proposed originally.

A federal rule announced by the agency Wednesday applies to lynx habitat in 1,389 square miles in Montana's Glacier National Park; 317 square miles in Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park; and 135 square miles in Washington's North Cascades National Park.

The Endangered Species Act defines critical habitat as places with features essential for the conservation of a species threatened or endangered. A designation may bring special management of habitat.

The rule is to be published Thursday in the Federal Register.

Lynx, typically weighing 18 to 23 pounds, are on the federal list of threatened species. They prey on the snowshoe hare and occupy forested areas in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Mountains.

Originally, the Fish and Wildlife Service wanted to place a critical- habitat designation on about 18,000 square miles in Maine, Minnesota, the northern Rocky Mountains and north-central Washington. The proposal was reduced after consideration of studies and public comment, the agency said.

Lands removed include those covered by plans for lynx management, property owned by American Indian tribes and lands not managed for commercial forestry.

The critical-habitat rule for lynx is in response to a court order stemming from a lawsuit by Defenders of Wildlife and others.

 

The Missing Lynx

The scarcity of lynx in northern-tier states has landed the critter on the federal list of threatened species. Will that help the lynx to "recover?"

By Greg Breining   Dec. 2000

Last fall, wildlife researchers laid out a 200-square-mile plot north of Isabella, just south of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. Accessible by trails and forest roads, it contained large areas of the spruce, fir, and cedar thought to be preferred by Canada lynx and their primary prey, snowshoe hares.

At 125 locations within the plot, technicians set up "hair snares" -- a pie tin dangling from fishing line as an attractor, a pad baited with beaver castoreum and catnip oil, and a Velcrolike patch nailed to a nearby tree. A lynx, like a rangy house cat, would spot the pan, sniff the scents, and rub against the patched tree, leaving its own scent -- and a sample of hair.

Driving and bushwhacking to each station twice in a month, technicians collected hair, storing each specimen in a vial. Hairs that appeared to belong to a cat were sent to the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station lab in Missoula, Mont., for DNA analysis to determine if they came from a lynx. The system had worked reliably in the West to determine if lynx were around.

During the fall and winter the researchers conducted this same experiment in Chippewa National Forest, northwest of Grand Rapids, and national forests in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In all, they set up 750 hair snares on 1,200 square miles of likely lynx habitat and sent 28 hair samples for DNA analysis.

Not one hair belonged to a lynx.

"I wasn't surprised," said Gerald Niemi, director of the Center for Water and the Environment at the Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota-Duluth, and head of the sampling project. "If you're looking for a needle in a haystack, you need a broad sample."

Elusive Lynx

If any Great Lakes wildlife species is a needle in a haystack, it is the elusive and far-ranging lynx. Its numbers in Minnesota have been as high as the hundreds and perhaps as low as zero. Partly because of its periodic rarity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed it last spring as a federal threatened species.

But the designation has been controversial. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources opposed listing because some biologists aren't sure resident populations of lynx were ever present in historical times and doubt if they can be established in the future. If that's so, disruption to logging practices and snowmobile trail locations that such listing could produce would be futile.

"You're constraining other activities and wasting resources on things that aren't going to work," said Mike DonCarlos, DNR furbearer specialist. "There are all kinds of problems we should be devoting our attention to. This is not one of them."

Attracting Lynx

Will setting aside habitat attract more lynx? Asked one federal forest planner: "If we build it, will they come?"

Scientists don't know, just as they don't know very much at all about lynx in Minnesota. (Much of what they do know and most of the background in this article is contained in The Scientific Basis for Lynx Conservation in the Contiguous United States. Published in 1999 by the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, it is called simply the "science report.")

The lynx, twice the weight of an average house cat, lives in the coniferous forests of North America, primarily Canada; hence its scientific name, Lynx canadensis. Long legs and huge feet enable it to run in deep, powdery snow in pursuit of snowshoe hares. So dependent is the lynx on the hare that the 10-year boom-and-bust cycles common to the hare, especially in the far north, are mirrored in the lynx population. A year or two after hare numbers drop, lynx also decline -- often to just 5 to 10 percent of the original population as lynx starve and fail to reproduce.

As hare numbers dwindle, lynx roam in search of food, moving several miles a day for straight-line distances of more than 100 miles. They migrate south into the conifer-hardwood forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine, where there had been few or no lynx. Peaks in these southern populations follow peaks in central Canada by two to three years. After a couple of years, populations in southern areas such as Minnesota drop from hundreds, or thousands, to nearly zero.

What prevents the lynx from pushing its permanent range southward? Scientists don't know. But several factors may be at work:

Low densities of snowshoe hare in the southern portion of lynx range compared with the north. While the hare lives in northern and eastern Minnesota, numbers are typical of what would be found in Canada during its low phase. Though lynx eat red squirrels, grouse, and other foods, they apparently don't flourish and reproduce without an abundance of hares.

Lack of suitable snow. Lynx, like hares, are built for deep powder. In areas with less snow, or firmer snow, lynx may lose out in competition with bobcats and coyotes. Both are more aggressive than lynx. Both are more adaptable predators, eating not only hares, but also a variety of other prey; so they survive as lynx starve. That's the hypothesis, but there's little hard science to describe the competition between these three predators. Research in Minnesota has not revealed competition between lynx and coyotes.

Development in potential lynx habitat that may increase competition between species to the detriment of lynx. Coyotes tend to be more numerous where farms are common. Some biologists suspect that roads and trails may give coyotes and bobcats a way to hunt and scent-mark where otherwise the snow would be too deep for all but the lynx. Does development actually affect lynx numbers? It's an interesting hypothesis for which there is little published evidence.

Trapping in Canada, which may have helped decimate lynx after their most recent boom in the Great Lakes region in the early 1970s. Since then, Ontario and Manitoba have further restricted trapping. Minnesota banned hunting and trapping of lynx in 1984. Despite the restriction, the lynx population has not rebounded.

Logging in a way that reduces hare habitat and clears the downed trees that lynx use as denning sites. Clear-cutting, rather than selective cutting, leaves even-aged stands, which may provide less-than-ideal hare habitat over the long term. While young stands hold plenty of hares, middle-aged stands do not. Old stands, with an emerging understory of young trees and brush, also hold hares. Biologists speculate that the best forest for lynx includes stands of many ages, from patches of young aspen and conifers to groves of old trees with deadfalls.

Mistaken Identity

As far back as 1892, in "The Mammals of Minnesota," author C.L. Herrick wondered if lynx lived in the state. All the purported specimens he examined proved instead to be bobcats. But apparently a few lynx were around, as evidenced by eight museum specimens dating from 1892 to 1900. Verified reports of lynx remained scarce during the early 1900s, though at least two wandered as far south as Sherburne and Morrison counties.

Harvest records published by the DNR tell of more lynx -- an average of more than 100 lynx trapped per year, with peaks of several hundred in 1930, 1940, 1952, 1962, and 1973. However, the data were based on mail surveys and should be viewed with some skepticism, with regard to both species and number of animals reported. At the same time, trappers caught very few lynx -- in some years none at all -- during the lynx's cyclic lows.

Did the recent hair-snare survey prove no lynx live in Minnesota? No, said Niemi. It really indicated there were no lynx in the study areas at the time of the survey. Niemi said he would like to repeat the survey over broader areas, especially in the difficult-to-access Boundary Waters, perhaps the region in the Great Lakes states most likely to sustain a population of lynx.

Do lynx form a viable resident population? Niemi said, "We don't really know for sure."

Others are more dubious. U.S. Geological Survey researcher L. David Mech, who studied lynx during their most recent incursion into Minnesota in the early 1970s, said, "We just get the tip of the overflowing population from Canada."

During the lynx's cyclic lows, said Bill Berg, wildlife biologist for the DNR, "You can count the number we have on one hand. Essentially there's not an animal in the state."

Thrusts and Parries

Despite the sporadic numbers of lynx in northern-tier states -- or because of them -- environmental groups petitioned the USFWS in 1991 to list the lynx as an endangered species. A series of thrusts and parries, most centered on the Pacific Northwest and Rockies, ensued between environmentalists and federal officials. Environmentalists sued for a third time, the parties negotiated, and this time the USFWS agreed to list the lynx as threatened. The listing took effect last March.

Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups involved, argues that protection of lynx habitat in areas such as northern Minnesota is important to "maintaining connectivity with habitat in Canada, so that they have the opportunity to continue to travel back and forth from Canada to Minnesota," according to Mike Leahy, a lawyer for the group. In particular, Leahy said, environmental groups are concerned about timber-cutting practices and the location of new roads and trails. "The lynx is an incredibly beautiful animal. It is as much a part of the north woods as the loon, the walleye, or the moose."

Berg sees the listing in different terms. By his reckoning, environmental groups were looking for a lever by which to force the federal government to restrict road building and timber harvest. "They needed a four-legged spotted owl, and the lynx is it," he said. "It's a pretty sad use of the Endangered Species Act.

"The work that was responsible for listing the lynx as threatened was dominated by research in the Rockies and western Canada," Berg said. "States like Minnesota and Maine were ignored. In extreme northern Maine, several radioed lynx there are found only in forests that were extensively logged five to 20 years ago.

"If you were to take all of northern Minnesota . . . and manage it for nothing but lynx -- forget all this management for old growth or young growth or whatever, manage everything for snowshoe hares and lynx -- you still wouldn't have any," Berg said. "You wouldn't have any until a few animals come down from Canada."

In the meantime, designation has the potential to disrupt logging, wildlife management, and recreation. Of the listing, Berg said, "It's loaded with a lot of politics and darned little biology."

Will They Come?

Berg's argument strikes at two fundamental issues that trouble opponents of listing the lynx.

First , scientists have no good evidence that they can manipulate habitat in a way to encourage more lynx to migrate into Minnesota or to enable them to survive once the hare population declines. Bald eagles were restored by banning DDT and protecting nest sites. Gray wolves recovered once people stopped poisoning and trapping them. What we might do to sustain lynx is less clear: If we build it, will they come?

Berg argues that the warming of Minnesota's climate since the late 1800s may make it all the more difficult to sustain lynx. During the past several decades animals such as opossums, skunks, white-tailed deer, and raccoons have extended ranges northward into Canada, while species such as wolverine and woodland caribou have retreated farther north. "No bird or mammal species in Minnesota is expanding its range southward," Berg said. "Everything is moving north." (An exception is the wolf, which is still recovering from past hunting and trapping.) Changes in land use play a role. But if climate is the driving force, what is the chance of restoring a boreal creature such as lynx?

Second, if the lynx's presence in northern Minnesota is merely a spillover of famished refugees, as Berg believes, the conventional biological justifications for protecting populations are less than persuasive:

To save a species. The lynx's primary home is Canada's boreal forest. What happens in Minnesota will not affect the vast majority of lynx.

To conserve a subspecies or unique genotype. Evolution occurs in isolated populations, whose unique genetics provide the characteristics a species requires to survive a changing environment. But the federal science report cites no evidence that the lynx found in Minnesota differ genetically from lynx of Canada, or that they are discrete in any way. Indeed, all or nearly all come from Canada. Nonetheless, the report cautions, "until we understand the nature of geographic variation in lynx populations, it would seem prudent to assume the existence of important genetic and nongenetic differences among populations, especially those that are distant and/or relatively isolated."

To provide interbreeding and migration in and out to sustain an outlying population. Small, isolated populations are vulnerable to extinction through disease, famine, inbreeding, and other catastrophes. But what is the value of "connectivity" to a population that naturally advances and withdraws like waves on a beach?

To stabilize an ecosystem by maintaining a species that fills a unique ecological niche -- in this case a midsize predator built for deep snow. How vital to an ecosystem is one predator among many if it shows up only periodically and then disappears?

Not Wrong

"Anyone who feels the lynx should not have been listed based on the biology is clearly not wrong," said Paul Burke, biologist for the USFWS. "Anyone who feels the lynx should have been listed is not wrong. Let's learn what we have to do to keep the lynx part of our ecosystem."

Niemi will continue his surveys this fall and winter. Over time such surveys can help determine if lynx of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan do form a resident population.

Defenders of Wildlife and other groups are suing the USFWS again, this time for failing to treat lynx populations in the northern states as discrete; for listing the lynx as threatened rather than the more imperative endangered; and for failing to designate critical habitat.

In the Great Lakes states, the USFWS will assemble a team of researchers and resource management specialists to develop a lynx "recovery plan" within four years.

"Climatic change needs to be carefully considered," Burke said. If the evidence makes it clear that the lynx no longer can survive in the United States "due to conditions beyond our control, there is indeed a method for the lynx to come off the list."

If, on the other hand, the team finds that habitat changes might increase the number of lynx in the region, there might follow changes to forest management and trail and road development. In the meantime, national forests might make some changes to their forest management plans based on what scientists suspect is true of the lynx.

Researchers must learn more about habitat needs. "That is not easily done with lynx," Burke said. "The men and women who trap spotted cats in Minnesota can tell us more about where to set a trap to get one than all the available literature."

The science report, which acknowledges that "we know very little about lynx ecology in the United States," adds that "it is inappropriate to expect scientists to solve complex problems in a single stroke. Yet this is often what ecologists are called upon to do when land managers and decision makers find that they lack sufficient understanding to meet legal mandates for environmental protections."

Burke agrees: "We've got an awful lot to learn before we start jumping to conclusions."

Greg Breining is the Managing Editor of the Volunteer and author of Wild Shore.

Minnesota: No doubt, the lynx is back

Researchers are finding many of the wild cats, which were thought nearly extinct in Minnesota.

Source: Copyright 2005, Duluth News Tribune
Date:  June 6, 2005
Byline:   JOHN MYERS

NEAR BRIMSON - In a tangled patch of blown-down spruce and balsam on the south edge of the Superior National Forest, Lynx No. 13 growled an angry warning.

Momma lynx was clearly not a happy cat as she watched -- just 20 feet away -- researchers poke, prod, tag and weigh her four kittens.

She never came closer, but No. 13 also never left, eventually sitting and softly growling while the scientists did their work with the 3-week-old kittens.

``We try to keep our time in here to a minimum, keep the intrusion as little as possible. . . . But they really don't seem to have any long-term reaction to us,'' said Ron Moen, lead researcher for the lynx project for the Natural Resources Research Institute of the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Less than 20 minutes later, the spotted-gray kittens were placed back under the fallen tree their mother had picked for their den, and the researchers and visitors quietly walked away from some of the newest members
of a growing population of Minnesota lynx.

LYNX GALORE

Just five years ago some biologists in Minnesota declared lynx all but eliminated from the state, saying the few sightings were probably lynx wandering through from Canada.

But when researchers started looking hard, they found lynx across St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties. Last year, a lynx den was discovered in Minnesota for the first time in more than 20 years.

Now, more than 60 individual Minnesota lynx have been confirmed through DNA testing. More lynx DNA samples await laboratory confirmation. And at least four female lynx this month are raising several more kittens to add to the mix.

All those have been in just three northeastern counties, before researchers were able to get money to expand their search westward across the state -- work that will start later this year.

``They've been found as far west as Red Lake for sure, and one was hit by a vehicle near Hinckley. Their range is fairly broad now,'' said Ed Lindquist, biologist for the Superior National Forest.

Moen said the skeptics may have been right -- that there may have been no lynx, or just a few, in the 1990s. But times have changed.

``The numbers are definitely going up,'' Moen said.

PERMANENT RECOVERY?

Lynx were once common in Minnesota's northern forests and were heavily trapped until the 1970s. Their numbers ebbed and peaked, apparently following the cycles of their favorite food, snowshoe hares.

But after a relative peak in the 1970s, lynx numbers crashed and never came back. The lynx decline appeared to coincide with the crash of hare numbers and other factors, including heavy lynx trapping in Canada. That may have reduced lynx numbers in southern Manitoba and Ontario, which are considered generators for new lynx pushing into Minnesota.

Still, lynx numbers didn't rebound even when hare numbers increased. The state ended trapping in 1984 and the federal government, forced by court orders, added lynx to the threatened species list in 2000 -- not just in Minnesota but across the U.S. Lynx numbers also had crashed in the mountain west and in Maine.

Some biologists said competition from other predators, especially bobcats, might be a factor. Another theory said that global climate change, which is pushing animals such as opossums and raccoons farther north into northern Minnesota, may also be pushing lynx north, out of the state. Lynx have an advantage over competitors with their ability to run on deep snow and catch hares. During low snow years, their competitors can move into lynx territory.

Now, all those theories seem inconsistent with the increase in Minnesota lynx numbers.

``I don't think we really know why we're finding so many now,'' Lindquist said. ``We have more hares. But that's not all of it.''

HABITAT PLAN

It's clear lynx are thriving and reproducing within the state. But researchers still don't know how long they'll stay, or what types of habitat lynx need at different times of year and different stages in their lives.

It's not a simple answer. Lynx can roam over huge areas, especially males. Some lynx trapped near Duluth have been found as far away as Thunder Bay. Yet others remain within a few miles of home from season to season.

``It's likely we'll see crossover (across the Minnesota/Ontario border) all the time. Whether it's lynx born in Canada coming down or lynx born here going north, it's going to keep happening,'' Moen said, adding however, that many lynx stay within Minnesota.

The federal government is paying close attention, paying for the research and forming a plan to protect lynx and their habitat to ensure they won't become extinct in Minnesota. Lynx are being considered, for example, for projects on federal land and were even the impetus for new wildlife crossings in some Minnesota highway projects.

The federal government is under court order to have a lynx habitat plan in place later this year to foster the cat's recovery. The current lynx project report will probably be the basis of that plan. GPS collars on 30 lynx over the past three years have given researchers more than 10,000 location points where lynx have spent time in Minnesota.

Four times every day the GPS collars reveal the location of each collared lynx. Researchers now know lynx hunt hares in thick stands of young forest that have been logged or burned in recent years. But lynx also spend ample time, especially when denning, in woods with big, old trees that block the sun.

Determining how much of each habitat is needed will be critical.

``We're on the cusp of figuring it out,'' Moen said. ``The key will be what the mix is over the long time, what kind of timber rotation and management you need to do to encourage lynx to stay in Minnesota.''

FERTILE FEMALE

Lynx No. 13 has been a productive cat. Since being trapped and fitted with a radio transmitter collar in March, 2004, she had a litter of five kittens last summer and now has four more. Three of last year's kittens are still alive, and one, in a very unusual scenario, is still hanging around with mom.

``It's really unusual for a 1-year-old to still be with its mother. But then, they don't always follow the rules,'' Moen said.

Biologists guess the 25-pound female is about 4 years old. They knew that she stopped roaming and hunting on May 11 and that she was probably having her kittens that day. They waited until the kittens got big enough to handle, not quite a pound each, and then used their radio tracking devices to home in on the mother and the den last week.

She was only about a quarter mile from the nearest gravel road. ``She made it easy for us,'' said Dave Danielson, a Forest Service researcher on the project.

Because of the thick pile of downed trees, and because the newborns are nearly odorless, the kittens have a pretty good chance for survival -- even though hungry bears, wolves and fishers are potential dangers. So far, trains, trucks and traps have been the largest cause of death for radio-collared lynx in the project. Only one has been verified as killed by another animal, a fisher.

``They are notoriously easy for trappers to trap. And they seem to spend a lot of time around roads, . . . and at some point they're going to get unlucky,'' Moen said.

Lynx No. 13 so far has been lucky or wary enough to avoid problems. Now, her ear-tagged kittens will be become part of the same study in which she's been a key element, a study that could determine the fate of her species in Minnesota.

``We're getting generations of lynx for data,'' Moen said. ``We've come a long way in a short time for an animal we didn't know much about a few years ago.''

Originally posted at: http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/11826986.htm

 

Posted on Thu, Jun. 16, 2005 - Duluth News Tribune

 

 

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