ALAMOSA — Federal wildlife officials and local
water and government officials finalized a plan Wednesday to protect a pair of
rare birds, while allowing local farmers and ranchers to avoid more stringent
provisions in the Endangered Species Act.
The San Luis Valley Regional Habitat
Conservation Plan protects the southwestern willow flycatcher, which is listed
as endangered by the federal government, and the yellow-billed cuckoo, a candidate
for federal listing.
"We're happy to see our conservation
partners in the San Luis Valley develop this plan that will allow people to
sustain their rich tradition of working the fertile landscape of the valley
while simultaneously contributing to the conservation of fish and wildlife in
their own back yards," Noreen Walsh, an acting U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service regional director, said in a news release.
The flycatcher summers in the valley,
establishing nests in the willows and smaller cottonwoods near wetlands and
slow-moving or standing bodies of water.
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