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As part of the process mandated by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will conduct five-year status reviews of 35 endangered or threatened fish, wildlife, and plants. These species are found primarily in the Southeastern United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but are also known to occur in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Virginia.

Species Louisiana Pinesnake, Yellow-Blotched Turtle, Pearl Darter and Inflated Heelsplitter are known to live in Mississippi or Louisiana.

The public is invited to provide information and comments concerning these species on or before July 12, 2022. However, we will continue to accept new information about any listed species at any time.

These five-year reviews will ensure listing classifications under the ESA are accurate and recommend changes in status where appropriate based on the latest science and analysis. In addition to reviewing the classification of these species, five-year reviews present an opportunity to track species’ recovery progress. These reviews may benefit species by providing valuable information to guide future conservation efforts.

Information gathered during a review can assist in making funding decisions, considerations related to reclassifying species status, conducting interagency consultations, making permitting decisions, and determining whether to update recovery plans, and other actions under the ESA.

The 21 endangered species and 14 threatened species in this announcement are listed below:

Endangered Fish and Wildlife:  Black Warrior waterdog, Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk, Puerto Rico nightjar, yellow-shouldered blackbird, orangefoot pimpleback (pearlymussel), boulder darter, pygmy madtom, Key Largo woodrat, red wolf, and Anthony’s riversnail.

Endangered Plants:  Alabama canebrake pitcher-plant, Braun’s rock cress, Catesbaea melanocarpa, Florida prairie-clover, gentian pinkroot, longspurred mint, Mitracarpus maxwelliae, Rugel’s pawpaw, Ruth’s golden aster, scrub plum, and Short’s goldenrod

Threatened Fish and Wildlife:  Inflated heelsplitter, yellow lance, Pearl darter, Louisiana pinesnake, and yellow-blotched turtle

Threatened Plants:  Cumberland rosemary, Everglades bully, Florida bonamia, Florida crabgrass, Godfrey’s butterwort, higo chumbo, pineland sandmat, scrub buckwheat, and seabeach amaranth

The five-year reviews seek information on: (1) species biology, including population trends, distribution, abundance, demographics, and genetics; (2) habitat conditions, including amount, distribution, and suitability; (3) conservation measures that have been implemented; (4) threat status and trends; and, (5) other new information, data, or corrections, including taxonomic or nomenclatural changes; identification of erroneous information contained in the ESA list; and improved analytical methods.

The Federal Register notice announcing the status review of these 35 federally listed fish, wildlife and plants is available online at https://www.regulations.gov/, search for Docket # FWS–R4–ES–2022–N002.

Comments and materials on any of the species listed below can be submitted to the appropriate contacts listed in the table below. Individuals who are hearing impaired or speech impaired may call the Federal Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 for TTY assistance. These notices usually request that information be submitted within a certain timeframe in order to ensure that we receive it in time to consider the information in our review. However, we will accept new information on any species at any time.