Federal efforts to save the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow will not impede the restoration of historic water flows into Everglades National Park, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.

By limiting critical habitat for sparrow to areas outside a historic river channel, Shark River Slough, FWS may help resolve one of the most contentious issues facing the government's Everglades restoration program -- getting more water into parched areas of the park.

But critics of the final critical habitat rule say the plan effectively reduces by more than half the area currently being protected for sparrows, and that reflooding portions of Shark River Slough will eliminate habitat for two key subpopulation groups.

Brad Sewell, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said today's final rule suggests "we're on the brink of a major shift in whether we're going to protect the Cape Sable seaside sparrow." The critical habitat designation does not bode well for the bird's survival, he said.

"It's potentially catastrophic for one of the most endangered bird species in the country, and its horrible for the Everglades," Sewell said.

However, other stakeholders, including the National Park Service and the Miccosukee Indians, whose tribal lands north of the park have been flooded for years in part to preserve sparrow habitat, welcomed the decision.

Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades National Park, said in a statement that FWS's final critical habitat determination "is consistent with our historic effort to restore this important ecosystem."

A spokeswoman for the Miccosukees issued a statement saying "the revised critical habitat designation appears to be a very large step toward Everglades restoration and multi-species ecosystem management." The tribe has long held that FWS's singular focus on preserving the Cape Sable seaside sparrow habitat has resulted in the degredation of habitat for other key species, such as endangered snail kites.

Restoring flow

In its final rule, FWS said critical habitat for the sparrow will cover nearly 85,000 acres of the vast wetland covering the southern tip of Florida. But it will not include portions of the historic Shark River Slough, where water would flow into the lower Everglades from reservoirs north of the park.

Such flows are essential to meeting the top priority of the $8 billion Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), which has faltered in recent years due to conflicting agency agendas and budgetary shortfalls.

Government officials and leaders of nonprofit groups involved in the restoration have nonetheless have been steadfast in their view that without the restoration of normal water flows into the lower Everglades, the entire CERP process would be undermined.

The Cape Sable seaside sparrow is just one of dozens of species whose future viability could be affected by such restoration decisions, and FWS's decision to exempt Shark River Slough from the sparrow's critical habitat area may result in a loss of some areas currently occupied by the bird.

But FWS determined that the Shark River Slough, while currently dry enough to support sparrow habitat, is not part of the sparrow's historic nesting and feeding grounds.

"New information suggests at least some parts of this area may have historically resembled a sawgrass marsh, which is not the species' habitat of choice today or historically," the agency said in a release announcing the habitat designation.

"In addition," FWS said, "up-to-date modeling for Everglades restoration projects indicates this area will become wetter to some degree as Everglades restoration progresses."

The sparrow's critical habitat will consist of five parcels concentrated on the east side of Shark River Slough, and four of the five parcels are entirely within Everglades National Park. The last parcel lies primarily within the state-owned Southern Glades Wildlife and Environmental Area.

The final designation largely conforms to the sparrow's original habitat areas, set in 1977, but FWS refined some boundary lines "to more specifically identify those habitats that sparrows use."

But Sara Fain, Everglades restoration program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, questioned FWS's rationale, saying the sparrow subpopulation currently occupying portions of Shark River Slough, and that would be excluded from critical habitat protection, "has always been considered vital to the species continued existence.

"We know that this bird has been suffering for years and years," Fain said. "Now is not the time to be dropping the level of protection. We can restore flows and protect this species at the same time. They're not incompatible."

Click here for more information on the critical habitat designation, including maps showing the habitat boundaries.