Photo by Doug Backlund
The Xerces Society is working with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance to research the status of 14 snail species in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming that are threatened by mining, grazing and logging. In September 2003 we filed a petition requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protect one of the snails that is the most at risk.
The Black Hills mountainsnail was once common throughout the northern and central Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, but has experienced significant declines over the years. Only 32 colonies are known to exist today and at over half of these colonies, the snail is considered rare. Experts agree that the snail is now considered to be critically imperiled and at risk of extinction.
The Black Hills mountainsnail is an important indicator of forest health. The snail depends on undisturbed forest and riparian (i.e., streamside) habitat, making it especially vulnerable to the effects of habitat degradation and environmental change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has stated, "Land snails are a particularly practical group to assess the health of an ecosystem." An understanding of the health of land snails, like the Black Hills mountainsnail, can aid in assessing the effectiveness of ecosystem restoration projects, assessing the status and health of other native plants and animal populations, and measuring the effects of land management actions.
Over a century of widespread domestic livestock grazing, intensive logging, and massive road construction in the Black Hills has seriously degraded the health of the forest, leading to the decline and endangerment of the Black Hills mountainsnail. Domestic livestock grazing in particular is reported to have caused the decline and loss of several snail colonies throughout the 1990's as a result of trampling and destruction of the snail's habitat, especially in wetlands.
The lack of adequate protection measures is also a key reason for the decline of the Black Hills mountainsnail. The U.S. Forest Service, which is responsible for managing much of the snail's habitat, has only recently (i.e., 2001) given the species any attention. However, current measures fail to ensure any level of protection for the species and its habitat.
Conservation concern over the Black Hills mountainsnail is not new. In 1991 and in 1994, the species was listed as a Category 2 Candidate species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, meaning that the best available scientific information indicated listing the species under the ESA was appropriate. In 1993, scientists recommended the species be listed under the ESA. Since then, little has been done to ensure adequate protection and snail populations have continued to decline, prompting conservationists to formally seek much-needed protection under the ESA.
Land snails, like the Black Hills mountainsnail, are an integral part of the web of life in the Black Hills. They consume organic material on the forest floor and recycle plant and animal waste. Without snails and other invertebrates, plant and animal waste would literally choke the Black Hills. Amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small mammals also feed on land snails, forming an important link in the food chain.
Endangered Species Act protection for the Black Hills mountainsnail would mean that its forest habitat would be protected and restored. It would also require the federal government to develop a recovery plan. Protection under the ESA would ensure a valuable and integral part of the web of life in the Black Hills is protected for the benefit and health of our forest and our own communities.
A copy of the petition and more information about the Black Hills mountainsnail
can be found here.
For more information, contact:
- Jeremy Nichols, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance; (307) 742-7978
- Scott Hoffman Black, The Xerces Society; (503) 534-2706
- Brian Brademeyer, Native Ecosystems Council; (605) 348-8404