U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Findings for 17 Endangered Species Act Petitions

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed initial reviews for 17 petitions to list or delist species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We find that six petitions did not present substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. Therefore, we will not take further action to on the petitions for these species.  The six petitions include: one to delist the Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bear and another to uplist it from threatened to endangered; and petitions to list the Colorado Desert fringe-toed lizard; Kings River slender salamander; sandstone night lizard; and the Yellowstone bison.

In response to 11 petitions, the Service is initiating 12-month status reviews on the Culebra skink, Great Basin silverspot butterfly, Greater Saint Croix skink, Greater Virgin Islands skink, lesser Saint Croix skink, Mona skink, narrow-footed diving beetle, Northern Rocky Mountain DPS of fisher, Puerto Rico skink, Scott riffle beetle and the Virgin Island bronze skink to determine whether the petitioned actions to list these species are warranted. To ensure that these status reviews are comprehensive, we request scientific and commercial data and other information regarding these species.

A summary of all findings is included below, along with separate docket numbers:

Not-substantial petition findings – no further status review

Substantial petition findings – status review initiated

The notice for all 17 findings will publish in the Federal Register Reading Room on January 11, 2016, and is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection by clicking on the 2016 Notices link under Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

The Service is opening a 60-day public comment period for each species for which a status review is being initiated. Complete instructions for submitting comments are provided in the Federal Register notice. Information can be submitted from the date of publication in the Federal Register until March 12, 2016.

The ESA provides a critical safety net for fish, wildlife and plants and has prevented the extinction of hundreds of imperiled species, as well as promoting the recovery of many others. The Service is actively engaged with conservation partners and the public in the search for improved and innovative ways to conserve and recover imperiled species.