U.S. Fish and Wildlife denies Endangered Species Act protection for eastern hellbenders
Just as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has called on the public to help locate and document sightings of the declining population of eastern hellbender salamanders to help in recovery efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to list the salamander as an endangered species.
ASHEVILLE – Just as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has called on the public to help locate and document sightings of the declining population of eastern hellbender salamanders to help in recovery efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to list the salamander as an endangered species.
The federal wildlife agency, which works under the Endangered Species Act to list plant and animal species on the brink of extinction, on April 3 denied ESA listing for the eastern hellbender, the largest aquatic salamander in North America, calling it good news, while conservation groups are criticizing the decision as short sighted.
