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| The Mountain-Prairie Region |
NEWS RELEASE
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
134 Union Boulevard
Lakewood, Colorado 80228
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May 6,
2004 Contact:
Sharon Rose (Mountain-Prairie
Region) 303-236-4580 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today published a revised list of species of plants and animals for 2003 that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, including 26 new candidate species added since the Candidate Notice of Review was last published in 2002. If the Service has sufficient information to propose listing a species as threatened or endangered, but is precluded from taking action by other, higher listing priorities, the species becomes a candidate species. In the eight states that make up the Mountain-Prairie Region, including Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming, the status of 17 candidates were reviewed and the priority ratings for three of those were elevated in this review. In addition, the Service is evaluating new information on the black-tailed prairie dog, and a new candidate assessment form is currently in preparation. Those four include the following: The Gunnison sage grouse was rated a 5 out of 11 in 2002 on the level of priority. It was changed to a level 2 in this Candidate Notice of Review. The range of the Gunnison sage-grouse has been reduced to less than 25 percent of its historical range. Drought continues to threaten already low numbers of Gunnison sage-grouse. Size of the range and quality of its habitat have been reduced by direct habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation from building development road and utility corridors, fences, energy development, conversion of native habitat to hay or other crop fields, alternation or destruction of wetland and riparian areas, inappropriate livestock management, competition for winter range by big game and creation of large reservoirs. Numerous conservation actions have occurred and funding and plans for additional conservation actions are in place. However, threats to the sage-grouse currently have not been eliminated or reduced enough through conservation actions to remove the potential need for listing. The status of the fluvial arctic grayling in the upper Missouri River in Montana is such that its priority rating has increased from a 9 to a 3. Its range once included the upper Missouri River drainage, but now the only remnant population is restricted to the upper Big Hole River, an area estimated to be less than 5 percent of the species’ historical range. Despite long-term grayling conservation efforts by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; the Big Hole Watershed Committee; the US Fish and Wildlife Service; and others, in the fall of 2002, the remnant grayling population in the Big Hole River apparently had declined to such a low level that not enough fish were captured to estimate population density. The spring 2002 spawning surveys captured the lowest number of grayling in the past 14 years of sampling and the spawning population was skewed to older fish, indicating limited recruitment for the last 2 years. Efforts to reestablish fluvial arctic grayling populations within the historic range in the upper Missouri River basin began in 1997. At this time, there is no evidence that these efforts have been successful. On-the-ground conservation efforts for the grayling are ongoing. Biologists have found increased population numbers in the lower, cooler reaches of tributaries to the main stem Big Hole River. The Graham beardtongue, which grows in oil shale barrens of the Green River formation in Utah and adjacent Colorado, is located within developed and expanding oil and gas fields, and includes several wells and access roads within the species’ occupied habitat. The potential threats associated with oil and gas development within the habitat of the Graham beardtongue are considered to be of high magnitude and are considered imminent, therefore, increasing the priority level from 5 to 2. An updated finding for the black-tailed prairie dog is not included in this edition of the Candidate Notice of Review. As the Service received significant new information about this species, it is considering this information and, upon completion, will publish a finding for this species in an upcoming issue of the Federal Register. As explained in the Federal Register notice, the current listing priority number for this species is 8. The table at the end of the notice incorrectly lists the listing priority number as 11. The Service publishes an updated Candidate Notice of Review primarily to solicit new information on the status of candidate species and threats to their survival. Service biologists rely on a variety of sources for the scientific determination of whether a species may warrant listing under the Act, including information from private, university and government scientists, local, State and Federal land management and planning agencies and private citizens. The Notice also informs the public about species the Service is considering proposing for protection, and it encourages conservation of candidate species. In addition, the Notice includes 24 domestic animal species that have already been proposed for addition to the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants, but for which a final listing determination has not been made. A proposal undergoes public review and comment before a final decision is made. "The candidate list is an important tool, helping to identify imperiled species and focusing attention on the need to conserve them before they have to receive Endangered Species Act protection. By working to recover these species now, in partnership with states, local communities and individuals, we can implement flexible, cost-effective conservation measures that put them on the road to recovery," said Service Director Steve Williams. The Service has removed 19 species from the Candidate Species List since the lists were last revised in 2002: · One species was removed because currently available information does not support a listing proposal. · Four species were removed because the proposal to list them was withdrawn. · Fourteen proposed species became listed as endangered. The complete Notice and list of candidates and proposed species appear in today's Federal Register. Species added to the candidate list since 2002 are listed below. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies. - FWS -
For more information about the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Species Added to the Candidate List Since 2002: Region MAMMAL Fisher, West Coast Population (Martes pennanti) Pacific California, Oregon, and Washington BIRDS Kittlitz’s Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) Alaskan coastal waters Alaska Xantus’ Murrelet (Synthliboramphus hypoleucus) U.S. and Mexican WestCoast Pacific AMPHIBIANS Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog (Ranamuscosa) Pacific Sierra
Nevada Distinct Population Segment California MUSSELS Seven Gulf Coast Mussels Round Ebonyshell (Fusconaia rotulata)
Southeast Three Other Mussel species Rayed Bean (Villosa fabalis) Entire Tennessee River system; southern Ohio River Midwest Sheepnose Mussel (Plethobasus cyphyus) Mississippi River system streams Midwest Spectaclecase (Cumberlandia monodonta) Streams in the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri Rivers Midwest INSECTS Region Five cave beetles Coleman Cave Beetle (Pseudanophthalmus colemanensis) Montgomery County, Tennessee Southeast Fowler’s Cave Beetle (Pseudanophthalmus fowlerae) Clay County, Tennessee Southeast Insular Cave Beetle (Pseudanophthalmus insularis) Davidson County, Tenessee Southeast Soothsayer Cave Beetle (Pseudanophthalmus tiresias) DeKalb County, Tennessee Southeast Noblett’s Cave Beetle (Pseudanophthalmus paulus) Monroe County, Tennessee Southeast One other insect Nevares Spring Naucorid Bug (Ambrysus funebris) Inyo County, California Pacific FLOWERING PLANTS Hala Pepe (Pleomele fernaldii) Hawaiian Island of Lanai Pacific Brand’s Phacelia (Phacelia stellaris) San Diego County, Riverside County, California Pacific Churchill Narrows Buckwheat (Eriogonum diatomaceum) Lyon County, Nevada Pacific Orcutt’s Hazardia (Hazardia orcuttii) Encinitas,California Pacific Everglades Bully (Sideroxylon reclinatum ssp. austrofloridense) Miami-Dade County, Florida Southeast Species Removed From the Candidate List Since 2002: MAMMALS Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) Pacific Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment Reason for removal: Listed as endangered San Miguel Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis littoralis) Pacific Channel Islands Reason for removal: Listed as endangered San Miguel Island Fox (Urocyon littoraliscatalinae) Pacific Channel Islands Reason for removal: Listed as endangered Santa Cruz Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis santacruzae) Pacific Channel Islands
Reason for removal: Listed as endangered Channel Islands Reason for removal: Listed as endangered BIRD Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) Mountain-Prairie
Western U.S., Canada, Mexico AMPHIBIANS California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) Pacific Sonoma County Distinct Population Segment Reason for removal: Listed as endangered Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog (Ranamuscosa) Pacific
Southern California
Distinct Population Segment FISH Coastal Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki clarki) Pacific Southwestern Washington/Columbia River Distinct Population Segment Reason for removal: Proposed listing withdrawn
Reason for removal: Listed as endangered INSECT Carson wandering Skipper (Pseudocopaeodes eunus obscurus) Pacific
California, Nevada Reason for removal: Listed as endangered FLOWERING PLANTS Ambrosia (Ambrosia pumila) Pacific
San Diego
Idaho Oregon Oregon
Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands Mariana Islands, GuamReason for removal: Proposed listing withdrawn FERN No Common Name (Dryopteris glabra var. pusilla (=Dryopteris tenebrosa)) Pacific Hawaii Reason for removal: Information currently available does not support listing |
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