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Crook Golf Club To Build Ponds To Protect Newt Population
Forget Birdies and Eagles, this County Durham golf club is all about newts after receiving planning approval to install three ponds to protect the local Great Crested Newt population.
Crook Golf Club in Low Jobs Hill is set to create ponds in unused areas of the 18-hole course as part of a conservation initiative under the District Level Licensing (DLL) scheme.
Two ponds will be built on rough grassland near the fairways, while the third will be in a natural clearing surrounded by trees and all will naturally fill with rainwater, eliminating the need for an external water source.
Original plans proposed four ponds, but one was removed due to concerns about interfering with a public right of way.
The golf course's landscape team determined that the construction of the ponds would not disrupt the visual appeal or character of the area.
Proposals align with multiple County Durham Plan policies, which advocate for high design standards and minimal environmental disruption.
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Development is also backed by policies focused on enhancing biodiversity, as the ponds are specifically designed to support the Great Crested Newts, a protected species.
The public, along with the 61 neighbouring consultees, did not raise any objections.
Key consultees, including the Landscape, Ecology, and Public Rights of Way teams, endorsed the revised plans.
The Coal Authority confirmed that a Coal Mining Risk Assessment was unnecessary for this type of development.
Environmental and safety considerations were also addressed, with the site falling into Flood Zone 1, indicating minimal flood risk.
Planning permission was granted on October 22, 2024, with conditions for commencing the development within three years and adhering to the approved plans.
These include the construction of ponds with a maximum depth of 1.5 metres to create an ideal habitat for the newts.
Crater Lake Newt Advances Toward Endangered Species Protections
For Immediate Release, October 10, 2024
Contact:
Chelsea Stewart-Fusek, (971) 717-6425, cstewartfusek@biologicaldiversity.Org
Crater Lake Newt Advances Toward Endangered Species Protections
Oregon Amphibian Imperiled by Crayfish, Climate Change
PORTLAND, Ore.— In response to a legal petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that the Crater Lake newt (also known as the Mazama newt) may qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The newts live only in Oregon's Crater Lake and their populations have crashed in recent years due to the expansion of introduced signal crayfish and warming lake temperatures from climate change.
"Without endangered species protections this cute little newt will soon blink out of existence," said Chelsea Stewart-Fusek, an endangered species attorney at the Center. "We need funding right now to remove signal crayfish from Crater Lake so these newts aren't wiped out. Otherwise, this incredible lake will be changed forever."
The Crater Lake newt is a subspecies of the more widely distributed rough-skinned newt. While the rough-skinned newt possesses a potent neurotoxin to deter predators, the Crater Lake newt is adapted to being at the top of the lake's aquatic food chain and lacks any predator defense mechanisms.
In the late 1800s fish were introduced to the lake to attract visitors, and in 1915 park managers introduced signal crayfish as a food source for the fish. Both fish and crayfish prey upon the newt, but it wasn't until lake temperatures warmed because of climate change that the number of crayfish exploded, decimating newt populations.
Newts have disappeared where crayfish live, and crayfish likely now occupy more than 95% of the lake's shoreline. Scientists anticipate that crayfish will occupy 100% of the lake's shoreline in less than two years. Crayfish also compete with newts for food, as both species feed on invertebrates. Where crayfish are present, invertebrate populations have been demolished.
Crater Lake is part of the National Park System and is famous for its status as one of the world's deepest and clearest lakes. Crayfish threaten not only the newt, but the lake's clarity as well. Scientists have found that by preying on the lake's native plankton-consuming invertebrates, crayfish increase algae growth in the lake.
Introductions of non-native species to water bodies — often by public lands managers — have had devastating consequences for native species and ecosystems and play a significant role in amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Eradicating harmful introduced species requires significant investments of time and resources.
Wednesday's announcement kicks off a yearlong review by the Service using the best available science to make a final decision on Endangered Species Act protection for the newt.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Crater Lake Newt Reviewed For Endangered Species Act Listing
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