Spitzer And Dec Win Court Order For Threatened Snakes

Attorney General Spitzer and Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner John Cahill announced today that a Dutchess County judge has ordered a rock-quarrying company to immediately stop installing a snake-proof fence at its Fishkill facility.

"This illegal fence will harm protected Eastern timber rattlesnakes by interfering with normal migration patterns and degrading the ever-diminishing habitat of this rare species," Spitzer said. "The fence is being installed in defiance of state environmental laws and we are asking the court to see that justice is done by ordering it removed. Doing so would enhance the survivability of a rare reptile while not hampering quarry operations."

DEC Commissioner John Cahill said: "Protecting endangered and threatened species, such as the timber rattlesnake, is one of the most important things that state and federal environmental agencies do. Sour Mountain Realty’s installation of a snake-proof fence, in direct violation of the state Endangered Species Act, has forced DEC to seek a court order to remove the fence. I thank the Attorney General and his staff for their strong support for protecting the timber rattlesnake and its habitat."

Friday, Dutchess County Supreme Court Judge Judith Hillary ordered Sour Mountain Realty Inc., owner of the quarry off Route 9, to immediately stop building thousands of feet of snake-proof fencing. Judge Hillary also ordered a March 22 hearing to consider the state’s request that the entire fence be removed.

Sour Mountain is installing the four-foot high wire-mesh fence to keep timber rattlers off its property. But the fence, being built 260 feet from a protected den of the rare snakes, would further reduce the timber rattlers’ shrinking habitat by about 20 percent.

The rattlesnakes are at the center of a controversy involving Sour Mountain’s application to the state for permission to mine up to 52 million tons of stone from the quarry over the next 150 years. The 1996 discovery of the rattlesnake den has delayed the company’s application for mining permits because the state has required Sour Mountain to evaluate the possible impacts of its mining project on the newly discovered snake den.

At least 20 timber rattlesnakes live in the den, which is in the Hudson Highlands State Park. Sour Mountain’s fence will prevent the snakes from gaining access to a portion of their traditional habitat that lies on company property.

The Eastern timber rattler is the largest venomous snake in New York, typically measuring about four feet long, living 16-22 years and feeding on small mammals, birds and amphibians.

The timber rattlesnake is listed as threatened due to significant decline in numbers caused by habitat loss, unregulated collection and indiscriminate killing by humans. Threatened species are stressed to the point that they are expected to become endangered in the foreseeable future.

In letters to Sour Mountain, state Department of Environmental Conservation officials warned the company that its fence violates New York’s Endangered Species Act, which prohibits "the disturbing, harrying or worrying" of threatened species.

The case is being handled for the state by Assistant Attorney’s General Robert Rosenthal and Christopher Amato.