"Feds Eye Protection for Glacier-Dependent Bugs"

"The meltdown of the Earth’s glaciers isn’t going to slow anytime soon, even if the world can agree on the big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions targeted as part of a global climate treaty this year.

And few alpine landscapes will feel the heat more than Montana’s Glacier National Park, where remnant glaciers from the last ice age have already dwindled to nearly nothing. Most of the remaining ice patches will probably be gone by 2050, and when they vanish, so will habitat for two species of stoneflies found nowhere else on Earth. Now, federal biologists will decide whether the bugs need protection under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced it will review the status of the meltwater lednian stonefly and the western glacier stonefly during the next 12 months, making an endangered species decision by this time next year.

Stoneflies are aquatic insects whose young live in the cobbles of cold, highly-oxygenated freshwater streams. Their presence can be an indication of a healthy stream ecosystem."

Bob Berwyn reports for Summit County Citizens Voice October 28, 2015.