American River Wildlife News
Agency hails beetle comeback
Federal wildlife officials said Monday they plan to remove the valley elderberry longhorn beetle from the endangered species list.
A five-year review showed its fortunes have improved.
The dime-sized beetle, unique to the Central Valley, has been the bane of developers and flood-control officials since it was first listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1980.
"Thank God. This is the happiest day of my career," said Joe Countryman, president of MBK Engineers, a Sacramento consulting firm that has repeatedly confronted the beetle issue. "It makes me want to cry to think of the amount of money that's been wasted on this thing." Read the story at the Sacramento Bee.
Since it relies on a single host plant, the relatively hardy valley elderberry, hundreds of construction projects have been required to take extraordinary steps when encountering the shrub.