OREGON LILY LISTED AS ENDANGERED
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: OREGON LILY LISTED AS ENDANGERED
- From: L*@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 11:28:30 EST
From: ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS)
AMERISCAN: DECEMBER 14, 1999
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OREGON LILY LISTED AS ENDANGERED
PORTLAND, Oregon, December 14, 1999 (ENS) - The USFWS has listed Gentner's
fritillary, one of Oregon's rarest native plants, as endangered under the
federal Endangered Species Act. A species is designated as endangered if it
is at risk of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its
range. Gentner's fritillary, already listed as endangered by the state of
Oregon, is a showy lily that has red bell shaped flowers with pale yellow
streaks. The plant grows about two feet tall and occurs only in the rural
foothills of the Rogue and Illinois River valleys in Jackson and Josephine
Counties. It prefers the edge of open woodlands and thrives on infrequent but
regular disturbances such as occurred under historic wildfire patterns.
"Only 340 of these uniquely beautiful plants are known to exist," said Anne
Badgley, USFWS Pacific regional director. "The Service will work with the
State of Oregon and other partners to pull the species back from the brink of
extinction and recover it to healthy population levels." The remaining plants
face diverse threats including logging, digging of bulbs by horticulturists
seeking to cultivate rare species, predation by wildlife, fungal infection,
loss of habitat due to fire suppression, road building and maintenance,
conversion of habitat to crop land and trampling by hikers, bikers and
horses. Biologists have found the species at 45 sites, Only eight of which
are larger than an acre. Thirteen of the sites are on Bureau of Land
Management lands, five are on state lands, seven on City of Jacksonville
lands and 20 are on private lands.
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