After a thorough review of the best available scientific and commercial information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that two Arizona species, the Pinaleño talussnail and the San Xavier talussnail, do not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.
The Pinaleño talussnail and San Xavier talussnail are land snails endemic to southeastern Arizona that reside on rocky hillsides, rocky washes, and talus slopes. The Pinaleño talussnail occurs in the Pinaleño Mountains on the Coronado National Forest and the San Xavier talussnail is restricted to the northwestern slope of White Hill in the Sonoran Desert.
The Service determined that neither species meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species as defined by the ESA. In the case of the Pinaleño talussnail, this determination accounted for stressors including drought, wildfire, and erosion of soils, all of which are exacerbated by climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change . Primary stressors to the San Xavier talussnail include drought and impacts to habitat from climate change.
Life history traits of the Pinaleño talussnail and San Xavier talussnail make them well-adapted to variable environmental conditions, including periods of drought and other short-term changes to their habitats. Although there is some potential in the foreseeable future for changes in weather parameters that are meaningful to these species, the Service concluded that these changes are likely to be small and are not expected to decrease habitat conditions or decrease the viability of either species such that they are in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future. Additionally, all known historical habitat for both species remains intact, and there is no loss of range for either species to date.
The Service also considered existing conservation agreements and commitments that assess and direct lasting conservation measures for the benefit of the two species. These voluntary conservation agreements involve federal and state partners, as well as private partners in the case of the San Xavier talussnail and initiate and facilitate ongoing cooperation and collaboration among partners. Agreements include habitat management, species monitoring, and adaptive management. The conservation agreement in place for the Pinaleño talussnail also includes conservation actions to address the severity of current and future wildfires in the Pinaleño Mountains, including within the range of the species.
The Service’s findings are based on a recently completed, peer-reviewed species status assessment (SSA) that addressed both species and included input and review from academia, state and Federal agencies, species experts and others. The SSA report will be available in our online catalog system at https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/ after the notice is published in the Federal Register. A notice of the not warranted findings on the petition to list the Pinaleño talussnail and the San Xavier talussnail can be found in the Federal Register on December 20.
Across the Southwest, the Service is creating new partnerships and augmenting existing partnerships to bolster conservation for at-risk species. Many fish, wildlife and plant species have avoided ESA listing thanks to the collaborative efforts of federal agencies, states, Tribes and private landowners, with the ESA serving as a catalyst for conservation efforts that help protect at-risk species and their habitat.
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the most significant piece of endangered species legislation and one of the world’s most important conservation laws. 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 promoted the recovery of many others, and conserved the habitats upon which they depend. 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. To learn more about the Endangered Species program, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/.
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