U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Updates List of Candidates for Endangered Species Act Listing 

For Release on December 6, 2007
Contact:  Claire Markgraf  (202) 208-5634

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released its yearly appraisal of
the current status of plants and animals that are candidates for protection
under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Candidate Notice of Review was
published in today’s Federal Register ( December 6, 2007 ).  Four species
were removed from the candidate list and five species were added since the
last review in September 2006. There are now 280 species recognized by the
Service as candidates for ESA protection.

As part of this review, the Service is soliciting public comment and
additional information on these candidate species, as well as information
on species that may be eligible for addition to future candidate updates.

This information will be valuable in preparing listing documents and future
revisions or supplements to the notice of review.

“The candidate list helps the Service, states and our partners focus
attention and effort on the species most in need of careful management,”
said Service Director H. Dale Hall. “Because of successful conservation
efforts with our partners, significant threats to a number of these
candidate species have been removed.”

Hall highlighted the important role conservation efforts play in reducing
risks to species not yet listed.  The Surprising Cave beetle in Kentucky is
one example.  It was removed as a candidate after an assessment found that
the species’ range was larger and the threats to its continued existence
had decreased. In addition, Mammoth Cave National Park entered into a
15-year agreement to conserve the cave beetle and its habitat, which
includes Surprising Cave and three other caves in the park. This
conservation agreement is just one of many such agreements across the
country helping to conserve at-risk species before they require ESA
protection. More than 150 candidate and at-risk species currently benefit
from candidate conservation agreements.

Three other species were removed from the candidate list this year:

   The basalt daisy, a plant found in Washington , was removed from the
   candidate list due to conservation efforts and information indicating
   the species is more abundant than once believed. Surveying and
   monitoring led to the identification of two additional populations of
   this plant and the most recent survey further affirmed stable numbers
   suggested by earlier surveys, leading the Service to conclude that this
   species no longer meets the definition of a candidate.

   The Warm Springs Zaitzevian riffle beetle, an insect found in Montana ,
   was removed from the list due to conservation efforts. Through the
   implementation of a management plan since 1994, the U.S. Fish and
   Wildlife Service’s Fish Technology Center has managed and protected the
   habitat for the beetle.  That protection has been further reinforced by
   the commitments of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Montana State
   University through a Conservation Assessment and Strategy signed in
   2006, leading to the removal of this beetle from the candidate list.

   The slender moonwort, a plant known to occur in Alaska , Colorado ,
   Montana , Oregon , Washington , Wyoming , and portions of Canada , was
   removed because it is more abundant than previously recognized and there
   is insufficient information to justify its continued candidate status.

This year, the Service evaluated several species under the candidate
process and found that five warrant ESA protection.  The five new candidate
species are:

   Las Vegas buckwheat, a plant species found in Clark and Lincoln
   Counties, Nevada;
   New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, a mammal species found in Apache
   County, Arizona; a small portion of Las Animas County, Colorado; and in
   Colfax, Mora, Otero, and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico;
   Huachuca/Canelo Distinct Population Segment of the Arizona treefrog, an
   amphibian found in the Huachuca Mountains and adjacent Canelo Hills in
   Arizona and Rancho Los Fresnos in north-central Sonora, Mexico;
   Laurel dace, a fish species found in Bledsoe and Rhea Counties,
   Tennessee; and
   San Bernardino springsnail, a snail found in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico.

Identification of candidate species provides resource managers with advance
notice of species in need of consultation, allowing them to alleviate
threats before the protection of the ESA is required.

The Service has several tools for protecting candidate species and their
habitat including a grants program that funds conservation projects by
private landowners, states and territories. Additionally, the Service can
enter into Candidate Conservation Agreements (CAA), formal agreements
between the Service and one or more parties to address the conservation
needs of proposed or candidate species, or species likely to become
candidates, before they become listed as endangered or threatened.  The CAA
participants voluntarily commit to implementing specific actions that will
remove or reduce the threats to these species, thereby contributing to
stabilizing or restoring the species.

The complete notice and list of proposed candidate species appears in
today's Federal Register and can be viewed online at
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/candidates/index.html

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, 63 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 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.