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Federal agencies are proposing to increase protections for loggerhead turtles, the long-lived sea creatures known for their big heads and capacity to swim thousands of miles across the Pacific. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule Wednesday that would list seven distinct loggerhead populations, including two in the Pacific, as endangered. Since loggerheads were listed as threatened in 1978 under the Endangered Species Act, they have continued to decline.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday designated 1.6 million acres in California as critical habitat for the endangered red-legged frog, made famous by Mark Twain in his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." The amphibian, once so plentiful that it was commonly featured on restaurant menus, eventually became endangered because of development encroaching on its habitat and the effects of pesticides and other chemicals. The habitat area is divided into 50 units across 27 California counties, including six counties that previously did not have designated critical habitat: Mendocino, Sonoma, Placer, Calaveras, Stanislaus and Kings.

The Obama administration Thursday declined to list the American pika as endangered, denying environmentalists' contention that the tiny mountain-dwelling creature will be unable to survive climate change. The rabbit-like mammal lives on the high slopes of California's Sierra Nevada and in parts of nine other Western states. It is highly sensitive to small changes in temperature. Larry Crist, a Utah field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which reviewed scientific literature on the pika, said the creature can adapt and find suitable habitat despite a predicted summertime rise of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the animal's current range by 2050.

Federal agencies are proposing to increase protections for loggerhead turtles, the long-lived sea creatures known for their big heads and capacity to swim thousands of miles across the Pacific. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule Wednesday that would list seven distinct loggerhead populations, including two in the Pacific, as endangered. Since loggerheads were listed as threatened in 1978 under the Endangered Species Act, they have continued to decline.

The big federal pumps that were cranked up over the weekend to send more Northern California water south will be turned down Thursday in the ongoing tug of war between water exports and fish protections. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who last week temporarily lifted pumping limits designed to protect migrating salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Wednesday declined to block similar curbs federal biologists say are necessary to save the imperiled delta smelt. That means the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will turn off one of the five pumps it uses to draw water from the delta east of San Francisco.

Manatees may rank lower than traditional military menaces like torpedoes or air-to-sea missiles. But a proposal to protect additional habitat for the deceptively gentle, sea-grass-munching creatures could, according to the U.S. Navy, end up reducing habitat for destroyers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service soon will make a decision on whether to expand what's called critical habitat for the manatee in Florida and southern Georgia, in response to a petition from several environmental groups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday designated 1.6 million acres in California as critical habitat for the endangered red-legged frog, made famous by Mark Twain in his story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." The amphibian, once so plentiful that it was commonly featured on restaurant menus, eventually became endangered because of development encroaching on its habitat and the effects of pesticides and other chemicals. The habitat area is divided into 50 units across 27 California counties, including six counties that previously did not have designated critical habitat: Mendocino, Sonoma, Placer, Calaveras, Stanislaus and Kings.

They won't be asking about ethnicity or household income, but biologists have begun their annual spring sea otter census. Sea otters are a keystone species, mammals at the top of the food chain and an indicator of the health of the marine ecosystem that is their habitat. This year's count began Monday at Pescadero Point. Four field biologists armed with Leica binoculars and Questar scopes spotted nine otters, one fewer than last spring. The census is a joint project of the U.S.

Regarding your Nov. 14 editorial concerning the use of conservation easements as a method to preserve and protect open space: The Transportation Corridor Agencies has preserved, restored or created approximately 2,037 acres of habitat and open space to compensate for construction of the Foothill, San Joaquin Hills and Eastern transportation corridors. In some cases the TCA owns this property outright. In most cases the underlying fee title is held by another entity, but the TCA holds a perpetual conservation easement that protects habitats and wildlife.

Thank you for the excellent editorial "Ravens Vs. Tortoises" (Jan. 23) on the raven-control project initiated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the California Department of Fish and Game. As the editorial indicates, the service believes that the numbers of ravens using portions of desert tortoise habitat need to be reduced so that young tortoises have an opportunity to reach adulthood.

The big federal pumps that were cranked up over the weekend to send more Northern California water south will be turned down Thursday in the ongoing tug of war between water exports and fish protections. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who last week temporarily lifted pumping limits designed to protect migrating salmon in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Wednesday declined to block similar curbs federal biologists say are necessary to save the imperiled delta smelt. That means the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will turn off one of the five pumps it uses to draw water from the delta east of San Francisco.

The Obama administration Thursday declined to list the American pika as endangered, denying environmentalists' contention that the tiny mountain-dwelling creature will be unable to survive climate change. The rabbit-like mammal lives on the high slopes of California's Sierra Nevada and in parts of nine other Western states. It is highly sensitive to small changes in temperature. Larry Crist, a Utah field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which reviewed scientific literature on the pika, said the creature can adapt and find suitable habitat despite a predicted summertime rise of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the animal's current range by 2050.

Manatees may rank lower than traditional military menaces like torpedoes or air-to-sea missiles. But a proposal to protect additional habitat for the deceptively gentle, sea-grass-munching creatures could, according to the U.S. Navy, end up reducing habitat for destroyers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service soon will make a decision on whether to expand what's called critical habitat for the manatee in Florida and southern Georgia, in response to a petition from several environmental groups.

In what biologists hailed as "a wonderful success story," the once-endangered American peregrine falcon that was decimated by DDT in the 1960s has made such a dramatic comeback that a 17-year-old captive breeding project is being ended. The birds, famous for their use in falconry and identified by their distinctive gray or black "helmet," were down to two known mating pairs in 1975.

When does a "white elephant" turn into a "swan"? When it is the Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel. The giant structure is more commonly known as the "Ziggurat" because of its distinctive terraced design resembling an ancient Babylonian or Assyrian temple. Less than five years ago, the Ziggurat was such a drag on the General Services Administration's budget that the agency sought a buyer. Although the building was appraised at $77 million in 1987, the top offer was $22 million.