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Federal agency will designate land to protect plant The Associated Press 9/4/01 2:06 PM LEAVENWORTH, Wash. (AP) -- More than 6,000 acres of seasonal wetlands in Chelan County must be protected to save a rare wildflower, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has ruled. On Thursday, the agency will use the Endangered Species Act to designate as critical habitat the land where the Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow grows. Most of the approximately 3,600 known checker-mallows are found on state Department of Natural Resources land near Camas Meadow, about 6 miles south of Peshastin off U.S.97. The critical-habitat designation also covers a small parcel of private property in Pendleton Canyon, just north of the meadow, where about 60 of the plants are found. The checker-mallow has been listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1999. It has been endangered under state law since 1994. The critical habitat designation does not prohibit the destruction of protected plants on private property, but landowners must comply with state laws to protect the plants. Federal agencies must also consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before issuing permits or funding activities that may jeopardize the plants or alter their habitat. Designation of 6,135 acres in Chelan County was the result of a 1999 court settlement between the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Center for Biological Diversity, an Arizona-based environmental group that sued to get federal protection of the flower. The checker-mallow is a perennial plant that grows up to 5 feet tall in moist meadows and produces clusters of pink flowers from mid-June to mid-July.
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