Wildlife refuge on endangered list

Friday, Oct. 14, 2005 | 7:39 a.m.

Southern Nevada's Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge is one of the nation's 10 most endangered refuges, according to the national Defenders of Wildlife organization.

The classification and reasons given last week are identical to those announced in August by the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

Both advocacy groups say the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to pump groundwater from the area could decrease the spring-water supply to the Moapa refuge, located about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. That, in turn, could leave the Moapa dace, an endangered fish, high and dry, according to "Refuges at Risk: America's Ten Most Endangered National Wildlife Refuges."

"The (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service must protect the Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge and the endangered Moapa dace instead of giving away water rights," Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen said.

There are fewer than 2,000 Moapa dace in an area less than six miles long within the 106-acre Moapa refuge, Dick Birger of the Fish and Wildlife Service said.

The refuge was created in the 1980s to protect the habitat of the fish, which is sensitive to changes in temperature and water flows, Birger said. The Moapa Valley refuge is not open to the public.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is awaiting details of the Water Authority's plan, Birger said.

The Water Authority is sensitive to how a pipeline could affect native species, a spokesman said.

The desert refuge complex consists of four refuges in Southern Nevada, including the 1.5 million-acre Desert National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge in the lower 48 states. It exists to protect bighorn sheep.

The complex also includes the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Moapa Valley and Ash Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which contains 24 plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.

The complex contains 17 threatened and endangered species, including the desert tortoise, Amargosa niterwort (a plant) and the Moapa dace.

The nation has 545 wildlife refuges covering nearly 100 million acres, according to Defenders of Wildlife.

Others placed on the organization's endangered list for 2005 include refuges in Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and California.

Mary Manning can be reached at 259-4065 or at manning@ lasvegassun.com.