Updated list of candidate species 
for ESA protection released

WASHINGTON (09/15/06) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its updated Candidate Notice of Review, a yearly appraisal of the candidate species list detailing those plants or animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Seven species have been added to the list since the last review in May 2005. There are now 279 species currently recognized by the Service as candidates for ESA protection.

The Service is soliciting public comment and additional information for candidate species, as well as information about species that should be included in future candidate updates. This information will be considered in preparing listing documents and future revisions or supplements to the notice of review. 

This year, the seven new candidate species included in the Candidate Notice of Review are:

One plant: Aboriginal pricklyapple, found in Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties, Florida;

One mammal: New England cottontail rabbit, found in parts of Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island;

One bird: Red knot, which migrates along the Atlantic coast;

Two insects: Florida leafwing butterfly and Bartram’s hairstreak butterfly, both found in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, Florida; 

Two snails: Rough hornsnail, found in the lower Yellowleaf Creek, Shelby County and lower Coosa River below Wetumpka Shoals, Elmore County, Alabama; and black mudalia, found in the Upper Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River and Little Warrior River, Blount County, Alabama.
 Identification of candidate species provides advance notice of potential listings, allowing resource managers to alleviate threats and thereby possibly removing the need to list species as endangered or threatened.

The complete notice and list of proposed candidate species appears in the Sept. 12, 2006, Federal Register, pages 53756-53835 [TEXT] [PDF].