The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a petition seeking to add the Goose Creek milk-vetch, a flowering plant found in Idaho, Nevada and Utah, to the federal list of threatened and endangered species presents substantial information indicating Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection may be warranted.
Based on this finding, the Service will initiate a 12-month long status review of the species. At its completion, the Service will issue a recommendation on whether the species requires ESA protection.
In February 2004, Red Willow Research and twenty-five other parties petitioned the Service to list the plant throughout its range under the emergency provisions of the Act. In response to the petition, the Service, in coordination with the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service (Idaho) and state natural resource programs in Utah, Nevada and Idaho, initiated surveys and census efforts to increase understanding of the distribution, abundance and factors affecting Goose Creek milk-vetch.
Goose Creek milk-vetch is a matted perennial forb known to occur in the Goose Creek drainage of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, an area of approximately 10 square miles. Currently, the plant is known to occur in Cassia County, Idaho; Elko County, Nevada; and Box Elder County in Utah.
Service records indicate stable or increasing plant numbers in all element occurrences. Survey and census efforts in 2004-2005 detected 5,052 plants in Idaho, 4,930 plants in Nevada, and 3,476 plants in Utah. The species is currently known from 24 sites (10 in Idaho, 5 in Nevada and 9 in Utah).
Though new information provided by the 2004-2005 surveys and census efforts shows that the species is more common than the petition claims, the survey efforts indicate that the leafy spurge, a non-native invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species , has been documented at several occupied sites and may present a threat to Goose Creek milk-vetch by competing for resources.
To assist and ensure that the 12-month review is comprehensive, the Service is requesting submission of any new scientific information and data on Goose Creek milk-vetch.
Data, comments and information must be submitted by October 15, 2007.
Comments and information may be submitted in the following manner:
- Mail or hand-deliver to Field Supervisor, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Snake River Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Suite 368, Boise, Idaho 83709;
- Fax to 208-378-5262;
- Use the federal rulemaking internet portal: >http://www.regulations.gov">;
- Email to fw1srbocomment@fws.gov
Please include Astragalus anserinus Scientific Information in the subject lines for fax and electronic comments.
For further information, please contact Steve Duke at U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Snake River Fish and Wildlife Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Suite 368, Boise, Idaho 83709, 208-378-5243, email steve_duke@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 97 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses 548 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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.
