AMERICAN-STATESMAN (Austin, Texas) 14 December 07 Jollyville salamander rates protection but won't get it for now, U.S. says. (Asher Price)
The good news for the Jollyville Plateau salamander, a 2-inch-long animal that inhabits some of the most prized development areas of Travis County, is that it deserves federal protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared Thursday.
The bad news is that it won't be soon.
In a determination published this week, the Fish and Wildlife Service said that the salamander warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act because of the threat of habitat destruction but that a designation as endangered or threatened will be deferred as the service makes its way through a logjam of other species that are at greater risk.
At least 280 species around the country are in line for protection.
The salamander occupies the Jollyville Plateau, an area roughly bounded by the Colorado River, MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), Lake Travis and U.S. 183.
It has been found at what had been one of the potential sites for a City of Austin water treatment plant, on the headwaters of Bull Creek.
A federal listing of the salamander as endangered or threatened could hamper development in the area, where land can sell for $20,000 an acre or more.
Austin environmental group Save Our Springs Alliance petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the species and then sued the agency after it missed deadlines for conducting a formal review of whether a listing was warranted.
Jollyville Plateau salamanders retain external gills and remain aquatic throughout their lives. They favor shallow, cool, clean water containing loose gravel.
• Sediments in the aquifer they inhabit might impair the salamanders' ability to avoid predators, locate food or find mates.
• The population of the salamander is unknown, but the City of Austin is studying its numbers.
Jollyville salamander rates protection but won't get it for now, U.S. says.

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• TX Press: No protection for Salamander - W von Papineäu, Sat Dec 22 18:11:31 2007