The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list the eastern hellbender as an endangered species throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act. Eastern hellbenders are found in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The eastern hellbender is a large aquatic salamander that lives in cool permanent streams across 15 states. Cool and clear water is important because hellbenders breathe through their skin, which contains numerous folds to increase oxygen absorption.

Hellbenders are the largest of North America’s salamanders, growing up to 29 inches They can live up to 30 years and spend their entire lives in water, living in perennial streams and rivers of the eastern and central United States. Hellbenders hide under large flat rocks on the streambed.

Historically, eastern hellbenders have been documented in 626 populations. Recent data indicate only 371 of these populations (59%) remain. Among the remaining populations, only 45 (12%) are stable, 108 (29%) have an unknown recruitment status, and 218 (59%) are in decline.

Threats to eastern hellbenders include stream sedimentation, poor water quality, disease, habitat loss, and pet trade collection.
 
Stream sedimentation caused by agriculture, silviculture, oil and gas development, residential development, off-road vehicles, impoundments, instream gravel mining, and road construction alters habitat suitability for hellbenders. Excessive sedimentation can also bury shelter and nest rocks and suffocate eggs.

Zoos are rearing and head-starting eastern hellbenders to avoid the high mortality that occurs during the first few years of life. These efforts involve raising larval hellbenders until they are large enough to avoid most predators and then releasing them back into occupied streams and rivers to bolster populations. Multiple states have successfully used artificial nest boxes for reproduction.
 
To help combat the illegal trade of hellbenders, both subspecies (Ozark and eastern), are listed under Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (2.7 MB PDF), which addresses native species that need regulation to prevent or restrict exploitation.

Hellbenders spend their entire lives in water; their presence or absence can indicate the health of the stream and river systems where they live and where they have been lost. The risk factors affecting hellbenders may affect other plants and animals living in those waterways.

• Keep pollutants out of watersheds by minimizing the use of pesticides and properly disposing of household toxic waste. Avoid washing spills, dirt, and debris down storm drains.
• Protect hellbenders from disturbance. They depend on large flat rocks for shelter. If you’re canoeing, fishing, or swimming, do not move those rocks – they need to be left in place. If you canoe or fish, keep rivers and lakes clean by leaving no waste behind.
• If you catch a hellbender while fishing, gently remove the hook or cut the line near the hook and release it back into the river. Using barbless hooks can help in safe hook removal.
• If you own property next to a stream or river, consider planting buffer strips with native vegetation along the waterway to reduce pollutants, provide shade, and improve the stream or river’s natural ecological processes.

The proposal to list the eastern hellbender as endangered will appear in the Federal Register on Dec. 13, 2024, starting the 60-day comment period. Information on how to submit comments can be found on regulations.gov by searching docket number FWS–R3–ES–2024–0152.