2 Texas plants are considered for endangered list [mining, oil and gas development blamed]

The humble yellow flower, no bigger than a quarter, shows itself only three months a year, in places where few people will ever see it.

The Texas golden gladecress, it seems, is as close as a living thing can be to not being there at all.

In fact, the plant, found only in the wet glades of East Texas, has all but disappeared because of mining activity, oil and gas development and more, prompting the federal government this week to propose listing it as an endangered species.............................................

Listing Decision for the Texas Golden Gladecress and Neches River Rose-mallow
The Service will remove Leavenworthia texana (Texas golden gladecress) and Hibiscus dasycalyx (Neches River rose-mallow), which occur within the central Texas area, from the candidate list. To remove these species from the candidate list means to propose them for listing as threatened or endangered or to prepare a not warranted finding. A listing proposal will include proposed critical habitat, if prudent and determinable. Following a listing proposal, a final listing determination will follow within the statutory timelines.

Snip...
Peer Review initiated: August 2012 Peer Review to be completed: October 2012

Rederal Register 9-11-12
We are proposing to designate critical habitat for both species in East Texas as follows: • Approximately 1,353 acres (ac) (539 hectares (ha)) are designated as critical habitat for Texas golden gladecress. • Approximately 178 ac (76 ha) are designated as critical habitat for Neches River rose-mallow.

Three counties, mostly on Caney Creek and mostly on private land (see TABLE 1—LOCATION AND STATUS OF TEXAS GOLDEN GLADECRESS POPULATIONS)

TABLE 4—POPULATION ESTIMATES FOR KNOWN ROSE-MALLOW OCCURRENCES

A principal threat to the habitat of Texas golden gladecress is the removal or destruction of habitat (outcrops and immediate surrounding land) by pipeline construction or from construction of buildings, well pads, or roads to access drilling sites directly over habitat. Natural gas pipeline installation requires trenching and clearing that can destroy all gladecress habitat and plants within the pipeline ROW. In addition to the destruction of habitat, excavation could conceivably alter the hydrology of gladecress sites if the lowered elevation of the excavation, or conversely, the increased ground elevation of a well pad or other structure, diminishes the amount of water that can move downslope over ground or through seeps.

So much BS in this it's not funny.

This is what it boils down to...
The entire known distribution of Texas golden gladecress is underlain by the Haynesville Shale formation (also known as the Haynesville/Bossier), recently recognized as a major natural gas source for the United States. The Haynesville Shale, located at a depth exceeding 11,000 ft (3,353 m), straddles the Texas-Louisiana border and almost 70 percent of its production is from wells located in Texas (Brathwaite 2009, p. 16). The Haynesville shale covers an area of approximately 9,000 square miles (23,310 square km). A June 2010 map shows the Haynesville Shale underlying the northwestern quarter of Sabine County, the entire northern half of San Augustine County, and the southeastern third of Nacogdoches County (Haynesville Shale Map 2010). Estimates of the natural gas contained in this formation’s reserves indicate that it could sustain anticipated energy needs for well beyond the next several decades (http://www.haynesvilleshalelandowners.org; Brathwaite 2009, p. 16).

Previously...
Under section 4(b)(2) of the Act, we consider the economic impacts of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. In order to consider economic impacts, we are preparing an analysis of the economic impacts of the proposed critical habitat designation and related factors. We will announce the availability of the draft economic analysis as soon as it is completed. At that time, copies of the draft economic analysis will be available for downloading from the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov, or by contacting the Corpus Christi Ecological Services Fish and Wildlife Office directly (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, above).

Go ahead, EPA, cut off the hand that feeds and see how well that goes.

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