CANADA LYNX CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY

Abstract

The Lynx Conservation Assessment and Strategy was developed to provide a consistent and effective approach to conserve Canada lynx on federal lands in the conterminous United States. The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, and United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service initiated the Lynx Conservation Strategy Action Plan in spring of 1998. The lynx has been proposed for listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Federal Register, Volume 63, No. 130, July 8, 1998). In the proposed rule, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that the population in the conterminous United States is threatened by human alteration of forests, low numbers as a result of past overexploitation, expansion of the range of competitors, and elevated levels of human access into lynx habitat. Federal land management agencies must confer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on any action which is "likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any species that is proposed to be listed... or which results in the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat proposed to be designated for such species" (50 CFR 402.10). Once listed, federal agencies must consult on any action that may affect a federally listed species. The conservation measures presented in this document will be used as a tool for conferencing and consultation, as a basis for evaluating the adequacy of current programmatic plans, and for analyzing effects of planned and on-going projects on lynx and lynx habitat.