Candidate species are plants and animals recognized by the Service as meeting the criteria for listing under the Act but which have not yet been proposed as endangered or threatened. Candidates are not protected by the Act, but they often become the focus of conservation efforts among resource managers and other partners to address threats to the candidates existence.
The Dakota skipper, found in high-quality remnants of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and two Canadian provinces, has a listing priority number of 11. The Service assigns a listing priority number between 1 (highest) and 12 (lowest) to each candidate based on the magnitude and immediacy of threats to its continued existence. Those species facing the highest, most immediate threats are given the highest priority for listing. Before a candidate can be listed as endangered or threatened under the Act, the Service must publish a proposal to list, obtain public comment, and review all available information before determining whether listing is warranted.
Dakota skipper populations have declined due to widespread conversion of native prairie. States and Canadian provinces in the original range of Dakota skipper have each lost from 72 to over 99 percent of their historical tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie. This has left isolated remnants of native prairie within the historic range of the Dakota skipper, only some of which have remained consistently suitable for the species. Dakota skippers are sensitive to several types of artificial and natural disturbances and are almost always absent from remnant prairies that are overgrazed or otherwise degraded. The isolation of remaining populations and threats to their habitat indicates that further declines are likely. Without the availability of immigrants from nearby, undisturbed prairie, Dakota skippers are likely to disappear permanently when isolated prairie remnants are subjected to untimely and intensive disturbance.
According to Dan Stinnett, field supervisor at the Services Twin Cities Field Office in Bloomington, Minn., about half of the remaining Dakota skipper population in the United States is located on private land. As such, the Service hopes to protect the butterfly through candidate conservation agreements that may prevent the need to list the species under the Endangered Species Act. Agreements are developed with partners who have interest or management responsibility for candidate species, such as state and federal agencies, private landowners or local governments. The agreements outline measures that can be taken to lessen threats to a species so that it does not need the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
"Sometimes listing is the only way, but if we can achieve the same result through candidate conservation agreements and partnerships, we will put all our effort into making it work," Stinnett said.
Stinnett said that such an agreement would likely include ways to assist interested landowners in voluntarily managing suitable areas through the protection or restoration of high-quality native prairie. Such measures, he said, would not only benefit the Dakota skipper but would also have a positive effect on soil conservation, water quality, and the numerous species of plants and wildlife that inhabit native prairie. Tallgrass prairie is one of North Americas most altered ecosystems.
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 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 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 more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes - Big Rivers Region, visit our home page at http://midwest.fws.gov">
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