Peer Review Plan for Eastern Hellbender Species Status Assessment Report

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will solicit independent scientific peer reviews of the information contained in our Species Status Assessment Report for the eastern hellbender. The purpose of seeking independent peer review is to ensure use of the best scientific and commercial information available and to ensure and to maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information upon which the report is based, as well as to ensure that reviews by recognized experts are incorporated into the Species Status Assessment process.

These reports will inform a recovery plan or a recovery plan revision for the species identified in the plan. A recovery plan is a guidance document that describes the envisioned recovered state for a listed species (when it should no longer meet the Act’s definitions of a threatened species or endangered species) and include a recovery strategy, recovery criteria, recovery actions, and the estimates of time and cost needed to achieve it.