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Though it doesn’t boast fancy plumage or notable size, the grayish-brown, sparrow-like Inyo California towhee is remarkable for its tenacity. Despite the population’s limited range and complete isolation from other towhees, its numbers have gone from few more than 100 to at least 700 individuals in the past two decades. Truly, the towhee is an Endangered Species Act success story. But its recovery is by no means guaranteed, and the Center is working to make sure that protections now in place are maintained against the myriad threats that could destroy its home.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened
YEAR LISTED: 1987
CRITICAL HABITAT: Approximately 5,600 acres in the Argus Mountains designated in 1987
RECOVERY PLAN: 1998
RANGE: The Argus Mountains of central California, Surprise Canyon in the nearby Panamint Range
THREATS: Destruction of riparian habitat by livestock, mining, off-road vehicles, and water diversions; the invasion of nonnative species
POPULATION TREND: Surveys showed that the Inyo California towhee had a tiny but relatively stable population between 1978 and 1987 (at 100 to 200 birds) and between 1992 and 1995 (at about 200 birds). A comprehensive 1998 survey located 640 adult birds, and a 2004 survey of Bureau of Land Management and state lands documented 204 adults and estimated a range-wide population of 725 adults. Surveys were conducted in 2007 and 2008 as part of the five-year review for this species, and a report on its status is expected by September 2008.
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SAVING THE INYO CALIFORNIA TOWHEE
Luckily for the Inyo California towhee, its imperiled status hasn’t been ignored. The species was federally listed as threatened back in 1987, and it was granted critical habitat at the same time — a requirement of the Endangered Species Act that rarely gets fulfilled. In addition, protections provided to the bird’s habitat by the 1994 California Desert Conservation Act should have reinforced the safeguards demanded by the critical habitat designation.
But the Bureau of Land Management, entrusted with protecting the California Desert Conservation Area, allowed destructive human activities in the towhee’s California home even after the Conservation Act was passed. Livestock grazing, mining, off-road vehicle use, and nonnative species continued to threaten the towhee’s already small and isolated population — as well as the populations of countless other plants and animals. So in 2000, the Center filed suit against the agency to institute sweeping reforms, and in 2001, a landmark settlement was reached. The Bureau of Land Management agreed to enact mining prohibitions, grazing restrictions, off-road vehicle restrictions, road closures, and other conservation measures that would affect hundreds of thousands of acres and improve the outlook for many imperiled species. The settlement specifically required protection of towhees through stepped-up efforts to remove feral burros, which degrade the bird’s habitat and have been one of the gravest threats to the species.
Today, though its population is still small, the Inyo California towhee has increased dramatically in numbers and is on its way to recovery. The Center will continue to monitor its status and work to enforce the protections it needs.
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Contact: Lisa Belenky
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