Snail Lawsuit Settled

Environmentalists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed recently that the rare Uinta mountainsnail should be reviewed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, a Utah Environmental Congress press release states.

In a lawsuit filed in 2004, the group claimed the government failed to respond to a citizen petition that claimed the animal should be protected.

"By law, the [Fish and Wildlife Service] is required to review such petitions and make a finding whether protection may be warranted within one year," the Oct. 11 press release states.

The organization claims the government must now issue its findings on whether the snail should be considered to receive federal protection before Nov. 1.

"The Uinta mountainsnail is on the brink of extinction and desperately needs the safety net of the Endangered Species Act," states Jeremy Nichols, of the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "While we're pleased to have reached an agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, their footdragging has only pushed the snail closer to extinction."

The Environmental Congress claims the snail lives only on the South Slope of the Uinta Mountains, in the Ashley National Forest.

It's an important indicator species of forest health because of its sensitivity to environmental change signs of poor forest management, the UEC claims.

The group's officials say livestock grazing and prescribed fires threaten the only known population of the snail, which lives on less than an acre of land.

"Healthy populations of the Uinta mountainsnail means healthy forests," said Kevin Mueller, executive director of the Utah Environmental Congress. "As a 'canary in the coal mine,' if it goes, we stand to lose a lot more than a snail."

A Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman expects the department to release findings on whether the snail could warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act by November. If so, the issue could then be studied for another year.

Published in the Park Record on October 22, 2005