The Ohio Ecological Services Field Office focuses on conserving endangered, threatened and rare species, migratory birds, inter-jurisdictional fish and their habitats in Ohio and ensuring compliance with federal wildlife laws such as the Endangered Species Act. Our strategy for conservation relies on engaging with partners, focusing on implementing conservation on the ground and reaching out to foster an appreciation of fish and wildlife and habitat among all Ohioans.

Our Organization

A rocky shoreline of a river. The water is calm. Mist and green branches line the river.
The Ecological Services Program works to restore and protect healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and plants and the environments upon which they depend. Using the best available science, we work with federal, state, Tribal, local, and non-profit stakeholders, as well as private land owners, to...

Our Species

Much of our work focuses on conserving the federally listed Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which occur throughout forested habitat in Ohio. Additionally, we strive to recover the many listed freshwater mussels that occur in Ohio’s streams. We also work with partners to monitor and manage listed plants.

Cluster of roosting bats.

The Indiana bat is a medium-sized Myotis, closely resembling the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) but differing in coloration. Its fur is a dull grayish chestnut rather than bronze, with the basal portion of the hairs on the back a dull-lead color. This bat's underparts are pinkish to...

FWS Focus
Grey, white and black bird on sand in the foreground

Size: 18 cm (7.25 in) in length. Color: Breeding season: Pale brown above, lighter below; black band across forehead; bill orange with black tip; legs orange; white rump. Male: Complete or incomplete black band encircles the body at the breast. Female: Paler head band; incomplete breast band....

FWS Focus
A group of juvenile and adult red knot forage along the shoreline.

Length: 25-28 cm. Adults in spring: Above finely mottled with grays, black and light ochre, running into stripes on crown; throat, breast and sides of head cinnamon-brown; dark gray line through eye; abdomen and undertail coverts white; uppertail coverts white, barred with black. Adults in...

FWS Focus
A clubshell mussel in the water

The clubshell is a small to medium size (up to 3 inches long) freshwater mussel that was listed as endangered, without critical habitat, in 1993 (58 FR 5638-5642). Its shell exterior is yellow to brown with bright green blotchy rays and shell interior is typically white. The shell is wedge...

FWS Focus
A group of about ten mussels being held partially out of the water by a pair of cupped hands

The northern riffleshell is a small to medium size (up to 3 inches long) freshwater mussel that was listed as endangered, without critical habitat, in 1993 (58 FR 5638-5642). Its shell exterior is brownish yellow to yellowish green with fine green rays. The shell interior is typically white. The...

The rayed bean is a small mussel, usually less than 1.5 inches (in) (3.8 centimeters (cm)) in length (Cummings and Mayer 1992, p. 142; Parmalee and Bogan 1998, p. 244; West et al. 2000, p. 248). The shell outline is elongate or ovate in males and elliptical in females, and moderately inflated in...
FWS Focus
Brown and black striated freshwater mussels sitting a steel truck bed

Shell surface: Many low, wide bumps run in a single file line down the outer shell surface, from the beak (the swelling above the point where the 2 shell halves join) to the opposite shell edge. The rest of the shell surface is smooth (without bumps), and looks slightly pressed-in from the beak...

FWS Focus
Snuffbox

The snuffbox is a small- to medium-sized mussel, with males reaching up to 2.8 in (7.0 cm) in length (Cummings and Mayer 1992, p. 162; Parmalee and Bogan 1998, p. 108). The maximum length of females is about 1.8 in (4.5 cm) (Parmalee and Bogan 1998, p. 108). The shape of the shell is somewhat...

FWS Focus
The rabbitsfoot is a medium to large mussel, elongate and rectangular, reaching 12 cm (6 inches) in length (Oesch 1984). Parmalee and Bogan (1998) describe the beaks as moderately elevated and raised only slightly above the hinge line. Beak sculpture consists of a few strong ridges or folds...
FWS Focus
Mussel resting on gravel

In 1831, Isaac Lea described the longsolid, a medium-sized mussel, up to five inches long, which potentially live up to 50 years.  It is found in small streams to large rivers, and prefers a mixture of sand, gravel, and cobble substrates.

The mussel is found in Alabama, Kentucky,...

FWS Focus

The round hickorynut mussel is a wide-ranging species, historically known from 12 states, though now occurs in nine, as well as the Canadaian Province of Ontario.  It is currently found in five major basins: Great Lakes, Ohio (where it is most prevalent), Cumberland, Tennessee, and Lower...

FWS Focus
Small butterfly rests on flower stalk with wings open.

The Karner blue butterfly was first described more than a century ago in Karner, New York. It is a small butterfly, with a wingspan of about one inch. The male's wings are distinctively marked with a silvery or dark blue color. The female is grayish brown, especially on the outer portions of the...

FWS Focus
This plant is 8 to 40 inches tall and has an upright leafy stem with a flower cluster called an inflorescence. The 3 to 8 inch lance-shaped leaves sheath the stem. Each plant has one single flower spike composed of 5 to 40 white flowers. Each flower has a three-part fringed lip less than 1 inch...
FWS Focus
A bright orange stem, with five leaves and a flower emerging from the leaf-covered forest floor

The small whorled pogonia is a member of the orchid family. The plant is named for the whorl of five or six leaves near the top of the stem and beneath the flower. The species is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

FWS Focus
The Virginia spiraea is found in the Appalachian Plateaus or the southern Blue Ridge Mountains in Alabama, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia. It no longer occurs in Pennsylvania. This plant was first discovered in Virginia in 1985. Most of the...
FWS Focus
Eastern massasauga rattlesnake

Massasaugas are small snakes with thick bodies, heart-shaped heads and vertical pupils. The average length of an adult is about 2 feet. Adult massasaugas are gray or light brown with large, light-edged chocolate brown blotches on the back and smaller blotches on the sides. The snake's belly is...

FWS Focus
Bald eagle up close with wing raised

A large raptor, the bald eagle has a wingspread of about seven feet. Adults have a dark brown body and wings, white head and tail, and a yellow beak. Juveniles are mostly brown with white mottling on the body, tail, and undersides of wings. Adult plumage usually is obtained by the sixth year. In...

FWS Focus

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