ETWP; Proposed Threatened Status for Virginia sneezeweed (Helenium virginicum), a Plant From the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposes to list Helenium virginicum (Virginia sneezeweed) as a threatened species, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This rare plant is restricted to seasonally inundated sinkhole ponds and meadows in Augusta and Rockingham counties, Virginia. Five of the 25 known extant populations are on U.S. Forest Service land; the others are on private land. This perennial plant is threatened by residential development, incompatible agricultural practices, filling and ditching of its wetland habitat and other disruptions of its habitat and the hydrology that maintains it. At several sites, ditches have been constructed to reduce the length of time that standing water is present. This has caused the H. virginicum population at one of the sites to be reduced to near extinction. Helenium virginicum is presently listed as endangered by the State of Virginia. This proposal, if made final, would implement Federal protection and recovery provisions afforded by the Act for this species.