Status of dozens of endangered, threatened species being reviewed
Dozens of endangered and threatened species across the Southeast, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will undergo five-year status reviews in the coming months.
The reviews include three species found in Tennessee and aim to determine whether species’ statuses have changed and provide recommendations.
“A five-year review presents an opportunity to track the species’ recovery progress,” according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife release. “It may benefit species by providing valuable information to guide future conservation efforts.”
The reviews seek information on species biology, habitat conditions, conservation measures, threat status, trends and other new information. The federal agency can make four recommendations after the review. It can reclassify the species from threatened to endangered, reclassify the species from endangered to threatened, de-list the species or maintain the species’ current classification.
Forty-eight species are under review, including the red-cockaded woodpecker. Fish and Wildlife personnel are working through a recovery plan for the well-known bird once considered common throughout the eastern United States. The species inhabited the open pine forests of the Southeast, including Tennessee, until early European settlement led to steep population declines. Now red-cockaded woodpeckers are considered extinct in Tennessee.
Species found in Tennessee include the Conasauga Logperch, Littlewing Pearlymussel and Blue Ridge goldenrod.
Public comment begins Monday and ends Oct. 5.