A little brown mouse that sleeps nine months of the year and is known for its impressive leaping ability was recently listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
On June 10, the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse gained protective status under the Endangered Species Act. The listing triggers federal conservation actions along its riparian and wetland habitats to ward off extinction.
The northern edge of the mouse’s range reaches into Southwest Colorado, including Montezuma, La Plata and Archuleta counties. It mostly hangs on in central New Mexico and eastern Arizona.
But 95 percent of that habitat is on federal grazing lands, prompting cattle groups in New Mexico to file a lawsuit Sept. 8 against the listing.
Ranchers claim the public procedures prior to the listing were incomplete and, thus, illegal. They fear the endangered status will limit access to streams and water sources for livestock.
“Ranchers in these areas have had grazing allotments going back several generations,” said Chad Smith, CEO of the New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau. “The allotments are a private-property right that the Forest Service is infringing upon when they fence cattle out of water sources. We had no choice to join the lawsuit to protect our members.”
In Colorado, there are only two known populations identified as proposed critical habitat. One is on 184 acres along the Florida River, east of Durango; the other is on 634 acres along Sambrito Creek, west of Navajo Reservoir. There are no recorded populations in Montezuma County.
Since 2005, there have been 29 documented remaining populations, down from 70 occupied areas in the early 1980s.
Loss and fragmentation of its habitat contributed to the significant population decline, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The primary sources of habitat loss include impacts from grazing, roads and water management, as well as drought and wildfires brought on by climate change.
According to Fish and Wildlife Service documents, “Isolated patches of suitable habitat are too small to support resilient populations.”
The mouse habitat requires thick sedges and grasses reaching 24 inches high along streams and wetlands, said David Smith, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist studying the mice in Arizona.
But saving the mouse does not mean cattle ranching has to stop.
“We firmly believe livestock grazing can coexist with the species,” Smith said. “It’s a matter of flexibility on allotment management.”
The mouse occupies 0.3 percent of 22 grazing allotments located on the Apache-Sitgreaves, Sante Fe and Lincoln National Forests. In the coming year, each population site will be specifically surveyed for improving and protecting habitat for the mouse, he said.
Solutions may include more pasture rotations and adjusting the timing of grazing to minimize impacts during the mouse’s active period.
“When they emerge in summer, it’s important that their sources of food – high-calorie seed heads – are available. They need to fatten up for the next hibernation and require good cover from predators,” Smith said.
The two Colorado populations are on private land and would require permission from the land owner to study, Smith said. However, protective actions on private land could occur if there was a federal nexus or major project, such as an Army Corps of Engineers permit to build a road or bridge or if there is rangeland funding through the Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Protecting the mouse has far-reaching environmental benefits beyond specific population sites.
“A healthy watershed is important for our water supply, irrigation districts and recreation,” Smith said. “In the long run, healthier streams protect a lot of people. For those who say the mouse and grazing can’t coexist, we will prove them wrong.”
