TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans, Louisiana) 03 March 04 Constricted Snake - Agencies seeking to protect species (Mark Schleifstein)
Herpetologist Steve Reichling remembers the day about 10 years ago when he first saw a spot in north Louisiana where the rare Louisiana pine snake might be found.
The road curved up about 40 feet through rural Bienville Parish, and the trees alongside changed rapidly to stunted versions of the leafy varieties found lower, then turned to longleaf pines. The ground cover changed too, to cactuses and yuccas dotting what looked like a sandy beach.
It looked like prime habitat for the snake so elusive that officials say it's only been documented in the wild 178 times during the 70 years since it was first identified. The dry, sandy soil and wide spaces between trees allow for the growth of a good mix of grasses and other leafy plants and wildflowers that are the prime food for the pocket gopher, which burrows beneath the surface to create a series of tunnels and caverns, providing both food and shelter for the aggressive snake.
Along the side of the road, Reichling, curator of reptiles at the Memphis Zoo, spotted a pine snake, variegated light tan and brown patches covering its body.
"When I touched it, it gave a blast like air through a pinhole in a high-pressure gas line," he said. It's an unusual call that is the hallmark of the rare and nonvenomous snake.
Finding ways to protect the snake's habitat and eventually increase its numbers is the focus of a three-day workshop this week with federal and state wildlife biologists, landowners and representatives of large timber companies at the Audubon Zoo.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and Defense Department officials from Fort Polk announced that they've signed a conservation agreement increasing protection for the snake on land they control.
Federal and state officials were moving to protect the snake's habitat even before it is granted endangered status. The habitat has shrunk from parts of nine Louisiana parishes and 13 Texas counties to only six broken habitat fragments in four Texas counties -- Angelina, Jasper, Sabine and Newton -- and three parishes -- Vernon, Natchitoches and Bienville.
Cutting of longleaf pine forests and their replacement with loblolly pines, which are grown close together, is cited as the biggest factor in the decline.
Extensive use of herbicides by timber companies eliminated the grasses and brush between trees that provided food for pocket gophers. As the gophers disappeared, so did the snakes.
Additionally, the snake's biology contributes to its rarity. The Louisiana pine snake, which grows to four or five feet long, lays the largest eggs of any snake in the United States, but only four at a time. It also reaches sexual maturity later in its life than many other snakes, which means a lower reproduction rate.
The snake was first listed as a candidate for endangered species status in 1982, soon after the Endangered Species Act was adopted, but the research required to get it on the list has not been completed, Fish & Wildlife Service officials said.
The conservation measures announced Tuesday include a decision by the Forest Service to conduct "prescribed burning" in forested areas where the snake lives. Fire will help reduce the number of seedlings between larger, mature trees and promote the growth of grasses preferred by the gophers.
The Forest Service also is considering limiting the use of off-road vehicles in areas where the snakes are found to reduce chances they will be run over, and it is hammering out agreements with private landowners.
Tommy Smith, a wildlife specialist at International Paper in Mansfield, said his company will reduce the use of herbicide by 60 percent on about 30,000 acres of forest it owns in northwest Louisiana, applying it in bands along tree rows rather than over wide areas.
It also will conduct prescribed burning of the area, a reversal in policy for the company, Smith said. He said International Paper had moved away from using fire because of liability issues associated with the smoke and flames.
The company is harvesting loblolly pines from much of that property and replacing them with slower-growing longleaf pine varieties, he said. The new trees will take 28 to 30 years to mature enough for cutting, compared to 25 or less for the loblolly varieties, he said.
The Audubon Zoo is helping, too, said Dan Maloney, vice president and general curator. The zoo is breeding the snake in captivity, swapping breeding snakes with other zoos to ensure a healthy genetic mix.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/neworleans/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1078335370117280.xml
THE ADVOCATE (Baton Rouge, Lousiana) 03 March 04 Groups hope to save Louisiana pine snake - Reptile rare added to endangered list (Joe Gyan Jr.)
New Orleans: Help is on the way for one of North America's rarest reptiles -- the Louisiana pine snake, federal officials and state agencies from Louisiana and Texas said Tuesday.
Eight federal and state partners, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and the Kisatchie National Forest in west-central Louisiana, met at Audubon Zoo to announce the signing of the "Louisiana Pine Snake Candidate Conservation Agreement."
The goals of the landmark management protection pact are to enhance habitat, educate the public, acquire funding and increase research to help protect the nonvenomous snake.
"This is a really good step," Tom Cloud with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Southwest Region in Arlington, Texas, said.
Russ Watson, who supervises the Fish & Wildlife Service's Southeast Region Louisiana Field Office in Lafayette, said only 178 Louisiana pine snakes have been documented from west-central Louisiana to east-central Texas in the last 70 years.
The current distribution of the snake has dwindled from nine Louisiana parishes and 13 Texas counties to six disjoined patches in Vernon, Natchitoches and Bienville parishes and Angelina, Jasper, Sabine and Newton counties, he said.
"We're interested in saving a rare species," Gary Lester with the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said. "We're committed to this agreement."
In addition to the Fish & Wildlife Service's Southeast and Southwest regions, Kisatchie and the Louisiana DWF, other partners to the voluntary agreement are Fort Polk, the U.S. Forest Service's Southern Research Station, National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Private timber companies are working with the partners.
The Fish & Wildlife Service has listed the Louisiana pine snake as a candidate under the federal Endangered Species Act. Texas has put the snake on its state endangered list, and Louisiana lists the reptile as a species of conservation concern.
Adult Louisiana pine snakes can grow to five feet in length. They are tan snakes marked with 28 to 38 darker blotches that become better defined toward the tail.
The snake, which spends much of its time underground, often takes over pocket gopher burrows. Its preferred slithering ground is the vanishing longleaf pine forest.
To help protect the snake, Kisatchie National Forest wildlife biologist Steve Shively said the forest understory needs to be regularly burned with controlled fires.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/030304/new_snake001.shtml
