10/30/01 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today published a revised Candidate
Notice of Review naming 252 species of plants and animals that may warrant
protection under the Endangered Species Act, including 26 new candidate
species.

In addition, the Notice includes the 35 domestic animal and plant species
that are currently proposed for addition to the list of endangered and
threatened wildlife and plants.

The Service periodically publishes an updated Candidate Notice of Review
primarily to solicit new information on the status of candidate species and
threats to their survival. Service biologists rely on a variety of sources
to determine whether a species may require listing under the Act, including
contributions from private, university and government scientists and other
citizens, as well as local, state and federal land management and planning
agencies.

The Notice, last updated in October 1999, also informs the public which
species the Service is considering proposing for protection, encourages
conservation, and promotes development that accommodates the needs of
candidate species.

"For our endangered species program to be effective, we need to communicate
with the public," said Marshall Jones, the Service's acting director. "The
notice provides information about the threats our fish, wildlife and plants
face. We hope it will focus more attention on imperiled species so we can
work in partnership with the American people to conserve and recover them."

The Service places a species on the candidate list when it has sufficient
information on biological vulnerability and threats to the species to
warrant proposing to list it as endangered or threatened. It then uses a
formal priority system to determine which species will be proposed for
listing first, granting highest priority to species in greatest need of
protection.

The Service has removed 75 species from the candidate list since it was
last revised in 1999. Of the 62 species removed by this Notice, 54 were
given protection under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or
endangered species. Four species were removed from the candidate list
because they were found to be extinct, two because of changes in their
taxonomic classification, and two because conservation agreements reduced
the threats to the species. An additional 13 species were removed from
candidate status in the intervening two years.  Also in the Notice, the
Service reassessed its "warranted but precluded" findings for 32 candidate
species that citizens petitioned the Service to list, as provided for in
the Endangered Species Act. In making a warranted but precluded finding,
the Service determines there is enough biological information to indicate
that a species may need listing, but that proposing to list the species is
precluded by the need to list higher priority species first. A warranted
but precluded finding is equivalent to a determination that a species is a
candidate for listing. The Act requires the Service to conduct an annual
review of all warranted but precluded findings. In its reassessment, the
Service found that listing all of these species was still warranted but
precluded.

The complete Notice and list of candidates and proposed species appear in
today's Federal Register. Species added to the candidate list are listed below.

Additions to the List of Candidate Species Under the Endangered Species Act

Mammals

Island  fox (Urocyon littoralis) -- San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and
Santa Catalina Islands of California

Mazama pocket gopher (Thomomys mazama ) -- Western Washington

Southern   Idaho  ground  squirrel  (Spermophilus  brunneus  endemicus)  --
Southern Idaho

Birds

Yellow-billed cuckoo, western continental United States distinct population
segment*  (Coccyzus  americanus)  --  Arizona,  California, Colorado, North
Dakota,  Montana,  New  Mexico,  Nevada,  Oregon,  Texas, Utah, Washington,
Wyoming

Streaked   horned  lark  (Eremophila  alpestris  strigata)  --  Oregon  and
Washington

Western  sage grouse, Washington distinct population segment* (Centrocercus
urophasianus phaios) ? Central Washington

Reptiles

Sand dune lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) - New Mexico and Texas

Amphibians

Georgetown salamander (Eurycea naufragia) ? Texas

Ozark  hellbender  (Cryptobranchus  alleganiensis  bishopi)  ? Arkansas and
Missouri

Fish

Yellowcheek darter (Etheostoma moorei) ? Arkansas

Zuni  bluehead  sucker  (Catostomus  discobolus  yarrowi)  ?Arizona and New
Mexico

Clams

Neosho  mucket  (Lampsilis rafinesqueana) ? Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and
Oklahoma

Texas hornshell (Popenaias popei) ? New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico

Snails

Phantom  Cave  snail  (Cochliopa  texana)  and Phantom springsnail (Tryonia
cheatumi) ? Texas

Insects

Nine cave beetles (Pseudanophthalmus caecus, P. cataryctos, P. frigidus, P.
inexpectatus,  P.  inquistor,  P.  major,  P.  pholeter,  P. parvus, and P.
troglodytes) -- Kentucky and Tennessee

Whulge   checkerspot   butterfly  (Euphydryas  editha  taylori)  ?  British
Columbia, Washington, and Oregon

Ferns and Allies

Slender  moonwort  (Botrychium  lineare)  ?  Colorado, Oregon, Montana, and
Washington


*The  Endangered  Species Act provides for listing of a distinct population
segment of a vertebrate species or subspecies if it is separated from other
populations by physical, physiological, ecological or behavioral factors.

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