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Masked Bobwhite Quail The U.S. government recognized that in order to manage the species for recovery, a significant area of quail habitat would need to be conserved. In 1985, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) took a major step towards achieving this goal by purchasing the grasslands of Arizona's Buenos Aires Ranch, which became what is now the 116,585-acre Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. Following acquisition of the land, refuge managers began restoring masked bobwhite quail habitat by replanting native grasses and using controlled fires to replenish eroded soils. Listing under the Endangered Species Act required the FWS to develop a recovery plan for the quail to guide management efforts for the species. Under the recovery plan the FWS has been breeding masked bobwhite quails in captivity and reintroducing them into the wild on the Buenos Aires Refuge. As a result of these efforts there are now as many as 500 masked bobwhite quail in the wilds of Arizona where less than a century ago, there were none. Aleutian Canada Goose Listing under the Endangered Species Act promoted the eradication of introduced foxes in historic goose habitat and encouraged the reintroduction of geese to that habitat once the foxes had been removed. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies established cooperative relationships with landowners to conserve goose habitat on private property and conduct research on the species' conservation needs. By 1990, the species numbers had increased to an estimated 6,300, leading the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify the goose from "Endangered" to the less restrictive "Threatened" status. In 1991, the Netucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in Oregon, conserving some of the wintering grounds essential to the species' recovery. In 2001, more than 32,000 Aleutian Canada geese were in the wild, prompting the species' delisting under the Endangered Species Act. Peninsular Bighorn Sheep In 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 854,000 acres of critical habitat for the Peninsular bighorn sheep, allowing resource managers to improve land-use practices for the benefit of the species. The Bureau of Land Management removed disease carrying livestock which threatened the bighorns from 226,026 acres of critical habitat under its jurisdiction, closed illegal roads and instituted seasonal road cloasures in important lambing areas. The U.S. Forest Service removed livestock from 17,982 acres of the critical habitat it manages. Local communities have begun to proactively incorporate bighorn conservation concerns into their planning. These conservation measures were not put into place in areas that had not been designated as bighorn critical habitat. In 2003, the California Department of Game and Fish estimated that there were 500 Peninsular bighorn sheep in the wild in the U.S.-a 49% increase in the population since the species was listed and critical habitat management practices began. Aleutian Canada Goose photo courtesy USFWS. |
The grasslands of Arizona and northern Mexico once supported healthy populations of masked bobwhite quail. The introduction of cattle grazing to the region, however, pushed the quail from their native habitat and towards extinction. Efforts to restore masked bobwhite quail in the United States began in 1937, but did not meet with the desired success. As a result, the species was considered extinct in the U.S. by 1950. Fortunately, in 1964 the last remaining population of masked bobwhite quail was found in Sonora, Mexico, prompting the U.S. government to list it as an endangered species.
The Aleutian Canada goose historically nested in the U.S. on islands off the Alaska Peninsula westward across the Aleutian Island Chain. Declines in the U.S. Aleutian Canada goose population began after arctic foxes were introduced to the islands by fur farmers and the species wintering grounds in Oregon, Washington, and California were degraded by expanding agriculture and urban sprawl. The ground nesting geese were unable to defend against the foxes in spring and unable find sufficient refuge during the winter. By 1967, less than 800 Aleutian Canada geese remained. The species was listed as endangered in 1973.
The Peninsular bighorn sheep inhabits the foothills of Southern California's Peninsular Mountains. The species was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1998 following population declines of 77% due to habitat loss from urban sprawl, roads, off-road vehcile use, overgrazing and diseases spread by domestic livestock. In 2000, there were only 334 wild Peninsular bighorn sheep left in the United States.