U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists informed Laredoans at a June 13 public information meeting that the dramatic decline of populations of the Texas Hornshell mussel could find protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The freshwater mussel, once prolific, lives in crevices, undercut riverbanks, and travertine rocky shelves on the banks of the Río Grande, occupying at this time only 15% of its historical U.S. range.
Habitat fragmentation is attributable to impoundments and reduced water quality and quantity as well as sedimentation and pollution.
The mussel’s habitat in a segment of the river bordering La Bota Ranch is one of five known populations that include the Black River and the Delaware River in New Mexico, the Pecos River, the Devil’s River, and the Lower Canyons of the Río Grande.
The Texas Hornshell mussel was proposed for listing as endangered on August 10, 2016.
U.S. F&W has re-opened its public comment period on this species. The deadline to submit written comments is June 29, 2017. Hard copy submissions can be sent by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to: Public Comments Processing Attn: FWS-R2-ES-2016-0077 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters MS: BPHC, 5275 Leesburg Pike Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
For the submission of electronic comments go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Enter FWS-R2-ES-2016-0077 in the search box. Submit a comment by clicking on “Comment Now!”
For further information, contact Colin McDonald,
Policy Analyst, Economic Growth and Endangered Species Management for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts at (512) 936-8591.
(Document availability: Copies of the proposed rule and Species Status Assessment Report are available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov at Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2016-0077, or by mail from the Texas Coastal Ecological Services Field Office)
SIDEBAR
After the June 13 public meeting at TAMIU, USF&WL biologist Susan Oetker said that opposition to the Texas Hornshell mussel being listed as endangered has come largely from the petroleum industry and from oil and gas exploration companies in West Texas and New Mexico that drill and frack near the Delaware River just above the Texas-New Mexico border. Some of those companies move frack waste by truck across low water crossings of the Delaware. Pockets of Hornshell mussel populations are found in the banks of the Delaware.
Energy exploration over 600 square miles in the Delaware River Basin — which spans eastern New Mexico and West Texas— will be renewed by a $563 million dollar joint venture between San Antonio’s Howard Energy Partners and Tulsa-based WPX Energy.
