Geocarpon minimum Draft Post-Delisting Monitoring Plan Peer Review Plan

Post-delisting monitoring is a requirement of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Specifically, Section 4(g)(1) requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to:

“implement a system in cooperation with the States to monitor effectively for not less than five years the status of all species which have recovered to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act are no longer necessary”

The purpose of this Draft Post-Delisting Monitoring (PDM) Plan (Plan) is to verify that Geocarpon (Geocarpon minimum) remains secure from risk of extinction after its removal from the protections of the Act. The primary goal of post-delisting monitoring is to monitor the delisted species to ensure the status does not deteriorate, and if a substantial decline in the species (numbers of individuals or populations) or an increase in threats is detected, to take measures to halt the decline so that re-proposing it as an endangered or threatened species is not necessary. This plan lays out the cooperators involved in monitoring, and the length, location, and types of monitoring recommended for the species.