Endangered Species Law & Policy

This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued three separate notices in the Federal Register concerning the agency’s 12-month findings on a number of petitions to list various wildlife and plants under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

First, the USFWS announced a positive 12-month finding on a petition to list the Peñasco least chipmunk (Neotamias minimus atristriatus), a small mammal from New Mexico.  The USFWS proposes to list the Peñasco least chipmunk as an endangered species under the ESA and to designate approximately 6,574 acres of land as critical habitat for the species.  The Peñasco least chipmunk is a subspecies of least chipmunk that is now found in only one isolated population within the White Mountains in New Mexico.  The USFWS concluded that the Peñasco least chipmunk is at risk of extinction due to vegetation shifts, wildfire, forest encroachment, recreation, development, land use, and land management.  The Federal Register notice states that the agency will accept comments until November 29, 2021, on the proposed rule to list the Peñasco least chipmunk as endangered under the ESA.

The USFWS also published a proposed rule to list the South Llano Springs moss (Donrichardsia macroneuron), an aquatic moss species from Texas, as an endangered species under the ESA.  The agency further proposed designating 0.48 acres of critical habitat for the species.  The South Llano Springs moss grows on submerged or partially submerged rocks and has only been documented in two locations within the Edwards Plateau in Texas, and the species is now extirpated from one of those two sites.  The USFWS notes that the risk of extinction of the South Llano Springs moss is high because the one remaining population is small and there is no known potential for natural recolonization.  The Federal Register notice states that the agency will accept comments until November 29, 2021, on the proposed rule to list the South Llano Springs moss as endangered under the ESA.

Finally, the USFWS announced a finding that 17 species were not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened species under the ESA.  This included: 10 species of springsnails from the Great Basin and Mojave ecosystems in Nevada, Utah, and California; a rare dunes plant found in Colorado; a jumping slug and a terrestrial snail from the Pacific Northwest; two dark blue butterfly subspecies found in Nevada; a rubber boa snake from California; and a small freshwater minnow found in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.  While the USFWS determined that none of these species warranted listing under the ESA, it did request that the public submit any new information concerning the species to the agency.