Sierrans might recall that a few years ago, the Iowa DNR listed the Topeka
Shiner as "threatened" in Iowa, rather than "endangered", as it is at the
federal level.

FEDS PROPOSE CRITICAL HABITAT
FOR IMPERILED TOPEKA SHINER

As a result of a legal settlement with the Center for
Biological Diversity, South Dakota Resources Coalition
and the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service proposed on 8-21-02 to designate
critical habitat for the endangered Topeka shiner over
approximately 2,230 river miles in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota
and South Dakota.

The Topeka shiner is a small fish which was once abundant
throughout the Central Great Plains and western tallgrass
prairies, and is now found in less than ten percent
of its original range due to siltation of spawning
habitat, water pollution, pesticide runoff, dams and
diversions. Its population has dropped by 80%, especially
in the past 25 years, and it is currently isolated
in disconnected tributary streams in Kansas, Missouri,
Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota.

Many of the remaining populations of the species have
declined sharply in numbers and have become geographically
isolated, eliminating the possibility for genetic transfer
between populations. This fish is especially important
because it serves as an indicator of the general health
of the aquatic ecosystems upon which fish, wildlife
and people alike depend.

The case was argued by Neil Levine and Jay Tutchton
of Earthjustice.

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