5-year Status Reviews of Six Mobile
River Basin Aquatic Snails
Cylindrical Lioplax (Lioplax cyclostomaformis)
Flat Pebblesnail (Lepyrium showalteri)
Plicate Rocksnail (Leptoxis plicata)
Painted Rocksnail (Leptoxis taeniata)
Round Rocksnail (Leptoxis ampla)
Lacy Elimia (Elima crenatella)
Peer Review Plan
About the Document
Title: 5-year Status Reviews of Six Mobile River
Basin Aquatic Snails
Purpose:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is conducting
a 5-year status review of the federally listed, endangered cylindrical
lioplax, flat pebblesnail, and plicate rocksnail; and the federally
listed, threatened painted rocksnail, round rocksnail, and lacy elimia
under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act).
The purpose of reviews conducted under this section of the Act is to
ensure that the classification of species as threatened or endangered
on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (50 CFR
17.11 and 17.12) is accurate. A 5-year review is an assessment of the
best scientific and commercial data available at the time of the review.
On the basis of such reviews, we determine whether or not any species
should be removed from the List (delisted), or reclassified from endangered
to threatened or from threatened to endangered. Delisting a species must
be supported by the best scientific and commercial data available and
only considered if such data substantiate that the species is neither
endangered nor threatened for one or more of the following reasons: (1)
the species is considered extinct; (2) the species is considered to be
recovered; and/or (3) the original data available when the species was
listed, or the interpretation of such data, were in error. Any change
in Federal classification would require a separate rulemaking process.
About the Peer Review Process
Type of Review: Influential
Date of Peer Review: Peer review
will occur between March 2006 and May 2006.
Estimated Dissemination
Date of the Final 5-year Review Document: September 2006.
Process:
The Service will conduct external peer review of this document
through electronic letters sent to three or more independent scientific
reviewers with expertise in mollusk conservation, hydrology, conservation
biology, and aquatic resource management.
The Service will make formal requests for peer review from involved
state agencies, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
and Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and additional peer review
from several independent species or habitat experts. Peer review of the
scientific information used in our analysis of the status of these snails
and the validity of the data will be requested, but peer reviewers will
not be asked to provide recommendations on the legal status of the species.
The Service will use the information received from the peer review,
as appropriate, in the conclusions and recommendations for the 5-year
review of the snails.
About Public Participation
Public comments on the 5 year review for the
snails were sought with a Federal Register announcement on June 14, 2005,
and the distribution by mail and press release of this announcement to
interested parties.
The Service will post a notice on its website of the recommendation
resulting from the 5-year review of the snails, including a summary of
the results of the peer review process. If this 5-year review results
in a recommendation to change the status of the snails, additional public
review and comment will be sought within the proposed rulemaking process.
This peer review plan is made available
on this website to allow the public to monitor our compliance with
the Office of Management and Budget’s
Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review.
Contact:
Paul Hartfield, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson
Ecological Services Office, 601-321-1125
|
