The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed an assessment of a petition to add the Jollyville Plateau salamander, an amphibian found in Texas, to the federal list of threatened and endangered species and found substantial biological information exists to warrant a more in-depth examination of its status.
The Service will conduct a full status review of the species to determine whether to propose protecting the salamander under the Endangered Species Act. The review will conclude in December 2007.
The petition to list the Jollyville Plateau salamander as an endangered species was submitted by the Save Our Springs Alliance (SOSA) in 2005. When the Service is petitioned to list a species as threatened or endangered, it evaluates the documents to determine if the petition presents adequate and reliable information that shows listing may be warranted. If so, the Service has 12 months to conduct a full status review and determine if the species should be proposed for listing as endangered or threatened.
The SOSA petition cites threats to the salamander that include expanding urbanization throughout the species? range and subsequent water quality degradation combined with the species? limited distribution and overall sensitivity to both water quality and quantity degradation. In addition, the petition presents information indicating that existing available regulatory mechanisms appear potentially insufficient to protect the salamander's habitat.
The status review will include a review of Service files as well as information requested from the public and species experts. Following this status review, the Service will determine whether to propose listing the Jollyville Plateau salamander. This decision will be based on factors that must be considered when assessing threats to a species, including: (A) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B) overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) disease or predation; (D) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or (E) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence.
The Jollyville Plateau salamander inhabits springs, spring runs, and caves in nine watersheds within the Jollyville Plateau area of the Edwards Aquifer in northern Travis and southern Williamson counties, Texas. It is one species among a group of salamanders that retain external gills and remain aquatic throughout their lives. They are approximately 1.5 to 2 inches long at maturity. Their habitat is cool, clean water of less than one foot in depth and containing loose boulders, cobbles, and gravel.
To ensure that the status review of the Jollyville Plateau salamander is comprehensive, the Service is soliciting information and data regarding this species and its habitat until April 16, 2007. The document is posted on the Service's web site at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/ElectronicLibrary_Main.cfm. For a copy, contact the Service's Austin Ecological Services Field Office by calling 512-490-0057 or writing Field Supervisor, Austin Ecological Services Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, 78758.
To provide information for the status review, please submit information via mail at the above address, facsimile 512/490-0974, or electronic mail at jsalamander@fws.gov.
The 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 545 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 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 Service's website at http://www.fws.gov.
- http://www.fws.gov/southwest-
