Tennessee species number many on proposed endangered list

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the list of candidates to be protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Tennessee ranks in the top five states on the list with 21 species each being considered for the list of endangered species. Hawaii has the highest number of species being considered, 69.

Four species have been removed from candidate status, five have been added, and eight have a change in priority from the last review in December 2008.  There are now 249 species recognized by the Service as candidates for ESA protection.

The five new candidate species are the Florida bonneted bat, currently found at 12 locations in central/south Florida; the rabbitsfoot mussel, found in only 49 streams in AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MS, MO, OH, OK, PA, TN, and WV; the Kentucky gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata), a plant found in Bullitt and Jefferson Counties, KY; the Florida bristle fern (Trichomanes punctatum floridanum), found in small areas of Miami-Dade and Sumter Counties, FL; and the diamond darter, a small fish found only in portions of the Elk River, WV.

Candidate species are plants and animals for which the Service has enough information on their status and threats to propose them as threatened or endangered.

As part of the review, the service is also soliciting information on these candidate species.
Candidate species do not receive protection under the ESA, although the Service works to conserve them.  The annual review and identification of candidate species provides resource managers advance notice of species in need of conservation, allowing them to address threats and work to preclude the need to list the species.