The Desert Fishes Council and Conservation - A History

Authors: Edwin P. Phil Pister

Year: 2010 (xlii)

Abstract

The Desert Fishes Council was established in 1969 amidst an obvious need for a means of protecting the Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) and Owens pupfish (Cyprinodon radiosus,) in an era prior to implementation of the Endangered Species Act in December, 1973. This led to the famous Devils Hole decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in June, 1976 and creation of the Owens Valley Native Fishes Sanctuary in the early 1970s. It is significant that 40 years later, and despite our best conservation efforts, both species remain on the Endangered Species list and are in many respects no more secure than they were 40 years ago. The implication here is that perhaps we are facing greater and more obscure challenges than fish conservation per se. The Council’s approaches to conservation have been varied and sporadic, and the degree of our involvement highly controversial, resulting in 2003 in strong disagreement among certain members that caused them to leave the Council. All this leads to a needed discussion of “Where do we go from here?” and into the very pertinent topics underlying this session: 1) preservation, repatriation, or restoration?, 2) population or ecosystem recovery?, and 3) horizon scan for innovative and effective conservation approaches. Each of these items needs to be discussed and evaluated as a means of clarifying and directing future efforts of concerned scientists and citizens.