U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Protects Desert Yellowhead Plant Under the Endangered Species Act

Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added the desert yellowhead, a perennial herb in the sunflower family, to the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The only known population, which included approximately 12,000 plants according to surveys done in 2001, exists on less than 50 acres of Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in southern Fremont County, Wyoming.

"The fact that the desert yellowhead occurs on fewer than 50 acres of land in the world and its small population size make this plant vulnerable to natural and human-caused disturbance and environmental stress," said Ralph Morgenweck, Director of the Service