The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating approximately 550 river miles in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky, as critical habitat for five federally-listed freshwater mussels. All five were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, on January 10, 1997.
The species include the endangered , , and http://cookeville.fws.gov.
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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies. Visit the Services Web site at http://www.fws.gov.
