USFWS declines to remove Golden-cheeked Warbler from Endangered Species List

[Fern Davies]

Service Announces Findings on Two Endangered Species Act Petitions

June 2, 2016

Contact(s):

Brian Hires, brian_hires@fws.gov, 703-358-2191 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has completed initial reviews of two petitions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); one to remove ESA protections for the golden-cheeked warbler and one to add the U.S. population of the northwestern subspecies of moose to the list of threatened and endangered species under the ESA.

 

The Service finds that the petition to delist the golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia) from the ESA did not present substantial information that delisting is warranted. The Service will take no further action on this petition. The warbler, listed as endangered under the ESA, breeds only in Texas including on Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. It also calls the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge home during parts of the year.

 

The docket numbers and links to the Federal Register publication for each species is provided below:

 

Species

Range

Docket Number

Docket link

Golden-cheeked warbler

TX

FWS-R2-ES-2016-0062

https://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FWS-R2-ES-2016-0062

 

 

The notice for the above findings will be available in the Federal Register Reading Room on June 2, 2016, and is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection by clicking on the 2016 Notices link under Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

 

Complete instructions for submitting comments on the U.S. population of the northwestern subspecies of moose are provided in the Federal Register notice. Information can be submitted via www.regulations.gov on the date of publication in the Federal Register until August 2, 2016; after that time, information must be submitted to the address given in the Federal Register notice.

 

For more information on the ESA listing process, including 90-day findings and status reviews, please go to www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/listing.pdf.

 

The ESA provides a critical safety net for fish, wildlife and plants and has prevented the extinction of hundreds of imperiled species, as well as promoting the recovery of many others. The Service is actively engaged with conservation partners and the public in the search for improved and innovative ways to conserve and recover imperiled species.