As part of an agency-wide effort to advance the recovery of our nation’s most imperiled species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has updated 26 Endangered Species Act (ESA) recovery plans that cover 42 species. The amendments are part of an agency-wide effort to add quantitative, measurable criteria for successful recovery of federally listed species.
Recovery plans are non-regulatory guidance documents that identify, organize and prioritize recovery actions, set measurable recovery objectives, and include time and cost estimates. As part of the Department of the Interior’s Agency Priority Performance Goals, up to 182 recovery plans covering some 305 species will be amended in the next 12 months to include quantitative recovery criteria.
The recovery plan amendments reflect the work of many longstanding partnerships across the country to improve the science, understanding and conservation of listed species. Amendments include additional science and information on species’ biology, habitat, distribution, analyses of threats, responses to management actions, and additional requirements for achieving recovery. Each species for which recovery criteria are being revised in this effort has undergone or is currently undergoing a five-year status review based on the best available scientific information.
Under guidance established in 2010, partial revisions, such as amendments, allow the Service to update recovery plans with the latest science and information without having to revise the entire plan, which can be a time and resource intensive undertaking.
There will be a 60-day comment period on the proposed amendments, ending on April 1, 2019. We are requesting submission of any information that may help achieve (1) the necessary understanding of species’ biology, threats and recovery needs; (2) identification of implementation issues and concerns; and (3) facilitation of more effective implementation, associated with these draft amendments that revise recovery criteria for these 42 species.
The plan amendments cover the following species:
Animals
Common Name | Range | Recovery Plan | Hyperlink to Proposed Recovery Plan Amendment |
Oahu tree snails | HI | Recovery Plan for the Oahu Tree Snails of the Genus Achatinella | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Achatinella_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
Hawaiian petrel | HI | Hawaiian Dark-rumped Petrel and Newell's Manx Shearwater Recovery Plan | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/HAPE_Draft_Recovery_Plan_Amendment_20180806.pdf |
Newell’s Townsend’s shearwater | HI | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/NESH_Draft_Recovery_Plan_Amendment_20180806.pdf | |
Rabbit, Columbia Basin Pygmy | WA | Recovery Plan for the Columbia Basin Distinct Population Segment of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) | |
Coffin Cave mold beetle | TX | Endangered Karst Invertebrates (Travis and Williamson Counties, Texas) Recovery Plan | |
Tooth Cave spider | TX | ||
Tooth Cave ground beetle | TX | ||
Tooth Cave pseudoscorpion | TX | ||
Kretschmarr Cave mold beetle | TX | ||
Bee Creek Cave harvestman | TX | ||
Bone Cave harvestman | TX | ||
Socorro isopod | NM | Soccoro Isopod Recovery Plan |
Table 2. List of Plants in Batch 1 of Amended Recovery Plans
Common Name | Range | Recovery Plan | Hyperlink to Proposed Recovery Plan Amendment |
Silversword, Mauna Loa (=Ka'u) | HI | Recovery Plan for the Ka`u Silversword (Argyroxiphium kauense) | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/ARGKAU_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
`Ahinahina | HI | Recovery Plan for the Mauna Kea Silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense) | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/ARGSANSAN_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
Koki`o | HI | Recovery Plan for Caesalpinia kavaiensis and Kokia drynarioides | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/KOKDRY_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
Uhi uhi | HI | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/MEZKAV_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf | |
Aupaka | HI | Recovery Plan for Lipochaeta venosa and Isodendrion hosakae | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/ISOHOS_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
Lipochaeta venosa (No common name) | HI | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/LIPVEN_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf | |
Hawaiian vetch | HI | Vicia menziesii Recovery Plan | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/VICMEN_Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_20180801.pdf |
Showy stickseed | WA | Recovery Plan for Hackelia venusta (Showy Stickseed) | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Hackelia_venusta_Draft_Recovery_Plan_Amendment_20180806.pdf |
Coastal dunes milk-vetch | CA | Recovery Plan for Five Plants from Monterey County, California | |
Yadon’s piperia | CA | ||
Hickman’s potentilla | CA | ||
Monterey clover | CA | ||
Marsh sandwort | CA, WA | Recovery Plan for Marsh Sandwort (Arenaria paludicola) and Gambel's Watercress (Rorippa gambelii) | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment%20NAGA%20ROGA.pdf |
Gambel’s watercress | CA | ||
Chorro Creek bog thistle | CA | Recovery Plan for the Morro Shoulderband Snail and Four Plants from San Luis Obispo County, California | |
Pismo clarkia | CA | ||
Indian Knob mountainbalm | CA | ||
Scotts Valley spineflower | CA | Recovery Plan for Insect and Plant Taxa from the Santa Cruz Mountains in California | |
Brady pincushion cactus | AZ | Brady Pincushion Cactus (Pediocactus bradyi) Recovery Plan | |
Siler pincushion cactus | AZ, UT | Siler Pincushion Cactus (Pediocactus sileri) Recovery Plan | |
Sacramento prickly poppy | NM | Sacramento Prickly-Poppy (Argemone pleiacantha ssp. pinnatisecta ) Recovery Plan | |
Lee pincushion cactus | NM | Sneed and Lee Pincushion Cacti (Coryphantha sneedii var. sneedii and Coryphantha sneedii var. leei) Recovery Plan | |
Sneed pincushion cactus | NM, TX | ||
Kuenzler hedgehog cactus | NM | Kuenzler Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus fendleri var. kuenzleri) Recovery Plan | |
Zuni fleabane | AZ, NM | Zuni Fleabane (Erigeron rhizomatus) Recovery Plan | |
Holy Ghost ipomopsis | NM | Holy Ghost Ipomopsis (Ipomopsis sancti-spiritus) Recovery Plan | |
Knowlton’s cactus | CO, NM | Knowlton’s Cactus (Pediocactus knowltonii) Recovery Plan | |
Star cactus | TX | Star Cactus (Astrophytum asterias) Recovery Plan | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_Star%20Cactus_clean.pdf |
Zapata bladderpod | TX | Zapata Bladderpod (Lesquerella thamnophila) Recovery Plan | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Rec%20Plan%20Amendment_Z%20bladderpod_clean.pdf |
Tobusch fishhook cactus | TX | Tobusch Fishhook Cactus (Ancistrocactus tobuschii) Recovery Plan | https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20SCLTOB%20Recovery%20Plan%20Amendment_clean.pdf |
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