Endangered and Threatened Plant Activities and Accomplishments

The Ecological Services Field Offices maintain lead responsibility for listed species and “species of concern” in this Region. These offices facilitate all aspects of species conservation with Federal, State and private partners. The Regional Office Endangered Species staff provide the Regional overview to other Service Regional Offices and the Washington Office, in addition to providing guidance and technical assistance to Region 3 Ecological Services Field Offices.

Some fairly recent events, conservation successes and future actions as a result of our Ecological Services Field Office staff coordinating with interested agencies, companies and private individuals, are:

• Western Prairie Fringed Orchid Final Approved Recovery Plan - The final approved Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) Recovery Plan was made available in 1996, facilitated by the Twin Cities, Minnesota, Ecological Services Field Office coordinating with the species’ Recovery Team.
• Houghton’s Goldenrod & Michigan Monkey-flower Final Recovery Plans - A Cooperative Agreement between East Lansing, Michigan, Ecological Services Field Office and Michigan Natural Features Inventory and The Nature Conservancy resulted in the completion of the final recovery plans for the Houghton’s goldenrod (Solidago houghtonii) and Michigan monkey-flower (Mimulus glabratus var. michiganensis). A Regional Office review is currently underway to get both documents printed and made available during late summer.
• Continuing Houghton’s goldenrod recovery success may warrant a delisting proposal in 1998.
• Private Landowner Partnering to Propagate Butternut Trees - Use of Section 6 grants assisted the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to continue a second year of a butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) recovery project during 1996. The Department of Natural Resources coordinated with a forest pathologist on recovery, wrote an article for the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, and developed outreach and survey information. Activities have generated interest from approximately 45 landowners interested in joining the recovery effort, which is hoped to result in the locating and propagating of disease resistant trees for outplantings. This project could create important partnerships with private landowners to spur the recovery of the butternut which currently is a Federal “species of concern.”
• 102 Landowner Conservation Agreements in Wisconsin - Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources landowner contact program continues to be successful in securing conservation agreements with private landowners for the protection of the federally listed dwarf lake iris, eastern prairie fringed orchid, Fassett’s locoweed, Karner blue butterfly, Northern wild monkshood, Pitcher’s thistle, prairie bush-clover and, Federal “species of concern” forked aster. As of October 1996, a total of 102 conservation agreements have been signed by private landowners. These efforts are important to the recovery of all these species as they result in the implementation of a variety of conservation actions that provide protection from such activities as grazing, herbicide use, or habitat destruction due to development or other activities. The program also serves as an important outreach tool for providing information to private landowners about the value of threatened and endangered species, which in most cases, leads to heightened appreciation of the land.
• Status Improvement of Missouri Bladder-pod (Lesquerella filiformis) - The Columbia, Missouri, Ecological Services Field Office is currently reviewing Missouri bladder-pod population data to determine if preliminary actions for proposing reclassification to threatened status should be considered.
• Prairie Bush-clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) - The Twin Cities, Minnesota, Ecological Services Office worked with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources staff to obtain updated status information on prairie bush-clover to determine accomplished recovery. This information will provide the basis to assess the feasibility of future delisting.
• Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) and Mead’s Milkweed (Asclepias meadii) - The Chicago, Illinois, Ecological Services Field Office is coordinating the completion of the technical/agency draft recovery plans for eastern prairie fringed orchid and Mead’s milkweed. Final editing of the documents is pending.
• Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid Restoration Project - The Nature Conservancy is in the fourth of a five-year hand-pollination and seed dispersal technique project for the threatened eastern prairie fringed orchid, funded by the Chicago, Illinois, Ecological Services Field Office. This project has generated interest from a multitude of volunteers in addition to partnering with several natural resource agencies. One private landowner dedicated his property to protect the orchid.
• Leedy’s Roseroot (Sedum integrifolium ssp. leedyi) - The Twin Cities, Minnesota, Ecological Services Field Office coordinated the completion of the recovery plan for Leedy’s roseroot. The threatened plant is found in Minnesota. Final editing of the document is pending.
• Pitcher’s Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) - The Service anticipates completion of the final recovery plan in August of this year. East Lansing, Michigan, Field Office is coordinating with U.S. Geological Survey and Michigan Natural Features Inventory to accomplish this effort.
• Midwest Plant Symposium Success - Botanists throughout the Midwest met on February 21, 1997, to discuss the status of rare plants in Missouri and to establish the framework for identifying priorities for the conservation of these species. Accomplishments included identification of taxon experts, protocol for the establishment of an information clearinghouse, and establishment of a cost-share agreement between the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Center for Plant Conservation Missouri Botanical Garden, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a database prototype that will be eventually expanded to collect information on rare Midwest priority taxa.
• Permits - Permits to conduct research on decurrent false aster (Boltonia decurrens) and Missouri bladder-pod (Lesquerella filiformis) have been recently issued, in addition to authorization to a zoological park to obtain captively propagated running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) seeds for planting and developing an educational display at the zoo gardens.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov