The tiny snail darter, Percina tanasi, was once the disparaged icon of anti-environmentalists after the fish was responsible for holding up TVA's Telico dam in Tennessee for two years over fears for the loss of its only known habitat, the free flowing Little Tennessee River. Litigation about the fish's future went to the Supreme Court. Telico dam was eventually built, but not before the fish were relocated to other streams in 1975. They were later discovered in more streams as well. The darter is often cited as example of environmental extremism. In 1984 the fish's status was changed from an endangered species to threatened. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to have the darter removed from the threatened list three years ago as the species continues to recover. Intereting the petition to remove federal protection was filed by the biologist who petitoned to have it declared endangered, and the lawyer who sued to protect it. On Tuesday, the Department of Interior announced the darter would be only the fith US fish species to be delisted due to recovery under the Environmental Protection Act. Secretary Haaland called the delisting a "remarkable conservation milestone that tells a story about how controversy and polarization can evolve into cooperation"
A member of the perch family, darters like fast flowing streams with gravel shoals that have little or no silt. Daming the Little Tennessee put an end those condtions. It took an act of Congress to exempt the Telico project from Endangered Species Act mandate to protect critical habitat--it was pork barrel legislation too lucrative to pass up for a little fish. The Telico is rather small and is not needed to produce electricity. Now that the fish has been delisted, some populations still need human assistance. TVA adds oxygen to the river water and pulses dam operations to remove silt from gravel shoals. The Clean Water Act helps insure the water quality if good enough for spawning. Fifty years passed before federal protection could be relaxed, but the passage of time proves environmental proctection laws work to everyone's benefit, even for tiny fish.