The Canada lynx may not be Utah's biggest wildcat, but it is proving to be the most elusive.
In fact, wildlife biologists don't have a lot of proof the lynx has lived in Utah mountains since the 1970s when two of the somewhat-bigger-than-a-bobcat predators were killed in the Price area.That didn't stop federal officials from assuming the Canada lynx still resides here, and that could mean changes in how Utah forests are managed. On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formally listed the Canadian lynx as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a listing that brings restrictions intended to save the animal from extinction.
Most of northern and central Utah is identified as lynx habitat.
"It means the Forest Service will have to consult with us more (on potential impacts to the lynx)," said Reed Harris, Utah field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "In practical terms, the Forest Service has already tried to determine areas where the species might be hurt or benefited, and they are developing strategic plans."
The U.S. Forest Service has been working with state and federal wildlife biologists as part of a regionwide program to determine if Canada lynxes are still present and how to protect them if they are here. The lynxes are known to have once lived in the Uinta Mountains, along the Wasatch Front, in the mountains around the Cache Valley and on the Wasatch Plateau south of Price.
"We don't think they were ever present here in large numbers, and there probably are not breeding populations," Harris said. "But there are probably individual (lynxes) around. If we find them, then we will probably increase measures to protect them in those areas."
Rich Williams, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Utah, said the Uinta. Ashley and Wasatch-Cache national forests are all affected by the listing of the Canada lynx under the Endangered Species Act. Managers for the forests are, or soon will begin, modifying management plans to accommodate lynx protection.
The same strategy is being implemented by forest managers across the northern part of the Western United States. Washington, Idaho and Montana are particularly affected by the listing.
As part of the strategy, developed by a team of scientists from different state and federal agencies, there will be no net increase in the number of groomed snowmobile trails, and there will be restrictions on certain lumbering activities and new forest roads. Most of the efforts involve protecting the lynx winter habitat.
"These proactive Forest Service conservation actions, though independent of our decision to list the lynx, will play a crucial role in our efforts to recover the lynx," said Ralph Morgenweck, a regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Generally, the public will not see many changes in the way the forests are managed, and because very little logging occurs on Utah forests, there will be little economic impact, Williams said.
"Any future projects on the forests, as they are proposed, will have to go through a consultation process to determine their impacts (on lynx populations and habitat)," Williams said. "But on the whole, people will not see a great deal of change on the ground. It is the (forest) managers who will see the changes."
However, Clark Collins, director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, a group of multiple-use organizations, is nervous about the effect of the lynx protection efforts on winter recreation, in particular snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross country skiing in areas deemed to be lynx habitat.
"Our recreationists are as concerned as anyone about the extinction of species, but just because a particular use might have a negative impact should not justify elimination of a specific use," he said. "They should prove a negative impact before eliminating uses. As the law is now, we are guilty until proven innocent."
The Canada lynx is the only lynx indigenous to North America. The cats range from Utah mountains on the south to Alaska on the north, although small numbers are found in the Great Lakes, New England and southern Rocky Mountain regions.