PLF petitions for reclassification of five southwestern species

PLF, along with several agricultural organizations based in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, recently filed this petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reclassify five species under the Endangered Species Act.  Specifically, we are asking the Service to “delist” the gypsum wild-buckwheat, a plant that is currently listed as “threatened;” and “downlist” the black-capped vireo, Kuenzler hedgehog cactus, lesser long-nosed bat, and Tobusch fishhook cactus from “endangered” to “threatened.”

The petition is supported by the Service’s own scientific findings from 2005 to 2010.  The Service concluded that each species was inappropriately classified based on reduced threats and newly discovered populations that were not known to exist when the Service put the species on the protected list.  Unfortunately, the Service rarely acts on its own recommendations for delisting or downlisting unless first petitioned by the public.