(CN) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday said it was considering whether a handful of plant and animal species warrant listing as endangered and threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and if a bird found in Texas should lose its protected status.
The species the service will consider adding include the Amargosa toad, the Carson Valley monkeyflower, the large marble butterfly, along with a subspecies, and the Mohave ground squirrel, the Morrison bumblebee, the Oasis Valley population of Amargosa speckled dace and the Tennessee bottlebrush crayfish.
The service has completed its 90-day findings on seven petitions to add those species, and one to delist the golden-cheeked warbler. It now has requested scientific and commercial data about them for a 12-month status review.
“At the conclusion of the status reviews, we will issue findings … as to whether the petitioned actions are not warranted, warranted, or warranted but precluded by pending proposals to determine whether any species is an endangered species or a threatened species,” the service wrote in its announcement.
The service will examine delisting the gold-cheeked warbler, which was the focus of a 2022 suit filed by the Texas General Land Office against the service. The land office had sought to rescind the bird’s endangered status, arguing that the service used an improper standard when reviewing its petition.
The Center for Biological Diversity in a Friday statement praised the move that could lead to protections for the three rare Nevada species it wants shielded by the service.
The Amagosa toad and Oasis Valley speckled dace, a kind of fish, face extinction because of proposed gold mining activity in a small town northwest of Las Vegas. The Carson Valley monkeyflower, found near Carson City — close to Lake Tahoe — has lost half of the area where it grew because of urban development, the center said.
“This decision gives the Amargosa toad, Oasis Valley speckled dace and Carson Valley monkeyflower a fighting chance at survival,” said Patrick Donnelly, great basin director at the center, in a statement. “Nevada is an epicenter of biodiversity, and these rare species are staring down the barrel of extinction unless we take prompt action to protect them. The Endangered Species Act is the best chance these little critters have, and I’m pleased to see them advance towards protection.”
The center also petitioned for the Tennessee bottlebrush crayfish to receive protection. It’s found in limited areas in Tennessee and Alabama.
Overuse and collection of the crayfish, along with climate change, are considered threats.
The large marble butterfly is found across a wide swath of western states and some Canadian provinces. Its subspecies is in central-western California.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation petitioned the service for the butterfly’s protected status. It argued that the creature faced a threat from a changing habitat, pointing to herbicides, wildfires and climate change.
The society also sought to protect the Morrison bumblebee, found in parts of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho, Washington and the Rocky Mountains.
The bumblebee faces threats including energy and mining development, as well as competing with commercial honeybees.
The Mohave ground squirrel — found in Southern California — faces threats including commercial filming activity and climate change. The Defenders of Wildlife and others petitioned for its protection.
People can submit information about the status or threats facing the plants and animals at www.regulations.gov.