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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Publishes Updated List of Candidates for Endangered Species Act Listing

June 13, 2002

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Contact: Chris Tollefson 202-208-5634

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE PUBLISHES UPDATED LIST OF CANDIDATES FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LISTING

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today published a revised list of 260 species of plants and animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, including 16 new candidate species added since the Candidate Notice of Review was last published in 2001.

The Service periodically 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 require 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, last updated in October 2001, also informs the public which species the Service is considering proposing for protection, encourages conservation, and promotes development that accommodates the needs of candidate species. In addition, the Notice includes 39 domestic animal and plant 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.

"The candidate list is an important tool, helping to identify imperiled species and focusing attention on the need to conserve them before they 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 places a species on the candidate list when it has sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to the species to warrant proposing to list it as endangered or threatened. It then uses a formal priority system to determine which species will be proposed for listing first, granting highest priority to species in greatest need of protection.

The Service has removed eight species from the candidate list since it was last revised in 2001. Six species removed by this Notice were given protection under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered species, one species was removed due to lack of pertinent biological information, and one species was removed since it was mistakenly included in the previous candidate list.

Also in the Notice, the Service reassessed its "warranted but precluded" findings for 30 candidate species that citizens petitioned the Service to list, as provided for in the Endangered Species Act.

In making a warranted but precluded finding, the Service determines there is enough biological information to indicate that a species may need listing, but that proposing to list the species is precluded by the need to act on other listing actions of higher priority. A warranted but precluded finding is equivalent to a determination that a species is a candidate for listing. The Act requires the Service to conduct an annual review of all warranted but precluded findings. In its reassessment, the Service found that listing all of these species was still warranted but precluded.

The complete Notice and list of candidates and proposed species appear in today's Federal Register Notice (pdf format) (text format). Species added to the candidate list since 2001 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 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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.

ADDITIONS TO THE LIST OF CANDIDATE SPECIES UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

Amphibians
Relict leopard frog (Rana onca) – Nevada and Arizona
Austin blind salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis) – Texas
Sonoma County population of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma Californiense)– California
Salado salamander (Eurycea chisholmensis) – Texas

Fish
Chucky madtom (Noturus sp.cf. Noturus elegans) – Tennessee
Grotto sculpin (Cottus sp., sp. nov.) – Missouri
Rush darter (Etheostoma phytophilum) – Alabama
Sharpnose shiner (Notropis oxyrhynchus) – Texas
Smalleye shiner (Notropis buccula) – Texas

Clams
Altamaha spinymussel (Elliptio spinosa) – Georgia

Snails
Elongate mud meadows pyrg (Pyrgulopsis notidicola) – Nevada

Insects
Dakota skipper (Hesperia dacotae) – Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada
Stephan’s riffle beetle (Heterelmis stephani) – Arizona

Flowering Plants
Siskiyou mariposa lily (Calochortus persistens) – California and Oregon
Webber ivesia (Ivesia webberi) – California and Nevada
Soldier Meadow cinquefoil or basalt cinquefoil (Potentilla basaltica) – California and Nevada

Previous News Release (10/30/01)

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