The Endangered Species List tends to be a black hole of biodiversity: Once species go on, they don’t come off. But there are successes, and yesterday the EPA announced that the Oregon chub is the first species of fish to ever make it off the list and back to something resembling health. AP:

The fish had practically disappeared from Oregon’s Willamette Valley as the swampy backwaters and beaver ponds it depends on were drained to control flooding and create farms and cities over the past century and a half. Those that survived the habitat loss became easy prey for bass introduced from the East.

Your support powers solutions-focused climate reporting — keeping it free for everyone. All donations DOUBLED for a limited time. Give now in under 45 seconds.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 Seconds

Stories like this don’t tell themselves.

Make others like it possible. Your support powers solutions-focused climate reporting — keeping it free for everyone. Give now in under 45 seconds.
Secure · Tax deductible · Takes 45 Seconds

But after 21 years on the endangered species list, chub populations have grown, from just 1,000 fish in 1992 to 180,000 fish now, according to the AP.

The chub’s secret? It doesn’t interfere with any powerful industries, like logging or hydroelectric power. So, species, take note: Don’t piss off powerful people, and you too could come back from the brink of extinction!

To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How