Salamander found nowhere else in the world lies in path of proposed pipeline Story Comments Image (3)Print Create a hardcopy of this pageFont Size: Default font size Larger font size22Previous Next20151012_MET_KNOBp2STEVEN DAVID JOHNSONCow Knob salamander, Reddish Knob, Virginia. Federal officials and others say a proposed natural gas pipeline would hurt the rare Cow Knob salamander, shown here. The salamander lives only on mountain ridges west of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and West Virginia. This picture was taken in Augusta County, about 15 miles from the proposed pipeline route, in 2011.Related Stories Related: Pipeline developer revises route in Virginia countyRelated Documents20151012_MET_KNOB_BW 20151012_MET_KNOBPosted: Monday, October 12, 2015 10:30 pmBy REX SPRINGSTON Richmond Times-DispatchThe Cow Knob salamander is standing — well, crawling — in the path of progress.The little amphibian lives nowhere in the world but a few mountain ridges in a wild and scenic region along the Virginia-West Virginia border northwest of Staunton.That area, however, also is where the Richmond-based energy giant Dominion and others propose to run a $5 billion natural-gas pipeline.A froglike creature might seem a poor match for the cogs of commerce, but the salamander has an important ally — the federal government.Under a first-of-its-kind pact made between federal agencies in 1994, the salamander and its rocky, forested habitat are protected in the George Washington National Forest.The deal was designed to keep the salamander from declining so badly that it would have be protected under the Endangered Species Act.As proposed, 5.5 miles of the 564-mile pipeline would run through land inhabited by the salamander in the national forest in Augusta and Highland counties in Virginia.Scientists say the salamander is struggling for survival already. And national forest officials say a pipeline through the creature’s home is unacceptable.“Even the most minor habitat alteration can cause detrimental effects to these salamanders,” said Jennifer Adams, special project coordinator for the George Washington and Jefferson national forests.National forest officials say the pipeline should be routed around the salamander’s land or under it by drilling through Shenandoah Mountain, a key salamander haven.Dominion, the lead partner in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline company proposing the project, said it is working with federal officials to try to resolve the issue.“We are currently evaluating potential options and are planning to meet with the Forest Service to discuss these options that provide the avoidance it has requested,” Dominion spokesman Jim Norvelle said by email.It’s too early to say how much it would cost to avoid the salamander, but “cost increases would be passed eventually along to customers,” Norvelle said.Dominion says the pipeline would reduce emissions that cause global warming, save electricity customers millions of dollars, and help industrial development along the pipeline route.***The Cow Knob salamander is about 5 inches long, dark with white-ish flecks, and has an anatomically fixed grin.Hiding under rocks and leaves by day, it comes out on rainy nights to find insects to eat. Most people never will see the creature.So why all the fuss?The rugged mountain region inhabited by the salamander “is a beautiful, beautiful area,” said J.D. Kleopfer, a biologist with the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.“The salamander is representative of one of the last remaining wilderness areas in the state,” Kleopfer said.When European settlers arrived, Virginia was inhabited by mountain lions, bison and wolves.“All those big animals are gone,” Kleopfer said. “We killed them all off.”Yet the Cow Knob salamander remains.“Their existence is not because of us,” Kleopfer said. “It’s in spite of us.”The salamander gets its name from Cow Knob, a high point on Shenandoah Mountain, where the salamanders were discovered in the mid-1960s. In that area, the ridge of Shenandoah Mountain divides Virginia and West Virginia, and the knob lies partly in each state.Cow Knob is not in the pipeline’s path. The Cow Knob salamander inhabits parts of West Virginia but is not in the way of the pipeline there.The 1994 pact protected the salamanders within a specific “conservation area” in which they were known to exist. But the deal extends protections for salamanders later found outside of that original area — in places including the path of the pipeline.***The southern Appalachian Mountains are known for their wealth of salamanders. Billy Flint, a James Madison University ecology instructor and one of the top experts on the Cow Knob salamander, explained why:Over thousands of years, the planet warmed and cooled many times. Salamanders love moist, cool environments, so during those warm periods, salamanders that couldn’t survive at hot, lower elevations persisted on cool ridges. Over time, some salamanders isolated
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