Five-year Status Reviews of Two Florida Skinks
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Bluetail mole skink (Eumeces egregius lividus) |
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Sand skink (Neoseps reynoldsi) |
About the Document
Title: Five-year Status Reviews of Two Florida Skinks
Purpose: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is conducting
a 5-year status review of the federally listed, threatened bluetail mole
skink and sand skink 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 May
2007 and June 2007.
Estimated Dissemination Date of the Final 5-year
Review Document: September 2007.
Process: The Service will conduct external peer review of
this document through letters sent to three or more independent scientific
reviewers with expertise in skink biology and conservation, herpetology,
conservation biology, wildlife biology and conservation, and scrub resource
management.
The Service will make formal requests for peer review from the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services, Florida Museum of Natural History, and University
of South Florida. Peer review of the scientific information used in our
analysis of the status of these skinks 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 status
of the skinks.
About Public Participation
Public comments on the 5-year review for the skinks were sought with
a Federal Register announcement on September 27, 2006, 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 skinks, 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 skinks, 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: Cindy Schulz, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, South Florida
Ecological Services Office, 772-562-3909.
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