Five-Year Status Reviews/Endangered Species Act: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Initiation for 16 Listed Species (Four Related to Arkansas)
January 08, 2024
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) announced in the January 5th Federal Register that it has initiated status reviews for 16 animal and plant species under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”). See 89 Fed. Reg. 804.
Four of the species’ range include the State of Arkansas.
Pursuant to the ESA, codified at 16 U.S.C. § 1531, et seq., the Service maintains lists of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants (collectively referred to as “the List”). The List is found in Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 50 C.F.R. 17.11 (for animals) and 50 C.F.R. 17.12 (for plants).
The ESA requires the Service to review each listed specie’s status at least once every five years.
The Service’s five-year status reviews considers “all new information available at the time of the review.” In conducting the review, the Service considers the “best scientific and commercial data that have become available since the Listing determination or most recent status review.” Such data typically includes:
- Species biology
- Habitat conditions
- Conservation measures that have been implemented that benefit the species
- Threatened status and trends in relation to the five Listing factors (as defined in Section 4(a)(1) of the ESA); and
- Other new information, data, or corrections, included but not limited to taxonomic and nomenclatural changes, identification of erroneous information contained in the List, and improved analytical methods
The species with a range that includes the State of Arkansas include:
- Pink mucket
- Spectaclecase mussel
- Ozark hellbender
- Indiana bat
The Service is requesting any new information regarding the 16 species.
A copy of the Federal Register Notice can be found here.
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