Janel Johnson / Courtesy of Nevada Division of Natural Heritage
Hardy Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis marcida) at White River near Ruppe’s Bog Hole in Nevada.
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge — a natural area in the Mojave Desert approximately 90 miles outside Las Vegas — is the home of several dozen species that are not present anywhere else on earth.
But on Sept. 24, several species, including nine of 10 rare Nevada springsnails that only live in Ash Meadows, were not listed as endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Preservation is key to Ash Meadows survival, and the Endangered Species Act is the most powerful piece of conservation legislation to ensure this, said Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director of the Center for Biological Diversity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which made the decision, announced 17 species in total did not warrant listing.
“We went through four years of an administration that was very hostile to endangered species act protections,” Donnelly said. “There was an assumption that the Biden administration would bring a new attitude about the necessity of providing protections to species, but this is really shocking, frankly, and it kind of feels like a real Trump move.”
Some species that live in Ash Meadows are listed under the Endangered Species Act, including the Devils Hole pupfish and the Amargosa niterwort. The nine springsnails exclusive to Ash Meadows are confined to a handful of springs, Donnelly said, acting as filters for the water they live in and a food source for other animals.
“Springsnails are an important part of the spring ecosystem,” he said. “They’re really an indicator of a healthy spring.”
The biggest problem facing springsnails — and the reason they should have been included on the Endangered Species List, Donnelly said — is because of increased levels of groundwater pumping near Ash Meadows that threatens their ecosystem. Had the springsnails been protected, federal and state agencies would have received funding to monitor or do restoration for the species, he said.
Alfalfa growers using their product to feed cattle at nearby dairy farms is the primary industry pumping groundwater, Donnelly said, as well as residential pumping in neighboring Pahrump. Should this amount of groundwater pumping continue, there will be a heavy decrease in the aquifer that sustains the springsnails and Ash Meadows’ springs.
Donnelly said the Center for Biological Diversity may appeal this decision in the future.
“These species rely on very singular habitats, and those habitats need to be monitored and maintained,” he said. “The funding is a big piece.”
