2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 33

Ralph L. Phillips, University of California, 1031 S. Mt. Vernon Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93307; 661.868.6219; cekern@ucdavis.edu

Kern County, California has more endangered species than any other county, most being plant species. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in the 1994 Federal Register a proposed list of 4 plants as endangered and 6 plants as threatened that grew indigenous to the western Sierra. The county?s range/livestock industry came to the local Cooperative Extension (CE) Range and Livestock Advisor to ask his assistance in developing information on the Striped Adobe Lily (one of the proposed plants to be listed) that could stand the rigors of scientific review.

A sampling procedure was developed by University of California range specialists. Landowners and the CE Advisor worked for 3 weeks during the 1995 lily growing season and were able to locate 44 different sites and count over 7.5 million plants on only 13 sites vs. the 12 sites and 16,000 plants reported in the listing documents submitted to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This information was presented at the public hearing held by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the proposed listing of the 10 plants. The CE Advisor was asked to testify at a congressional hearing on the Endangered Species Act Reform. The science-based information was sufficient to convince the U. S. Fish and Wildlife to withdraw the proposed listing of the Striped Adobe Lily.