National Domestic Listing Workplan/Endangered Species Act: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Issues FY23-27 Workplan (Including Reference to 22 Species Whose Range Includes Arkansas)

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) issued on April 14th a FY23-27 National Domestic Listing Workplan (“Workplan”) to address domestic listing and critical habitat decisions under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).

The Service states that the Workplan:

• Enables the Service to prioritize its workload based on the needs of candidate and petitioned species
• Provides greater clarity and predictability about the timing of listing determinations
• Facilities the goal of encouraging proactive conservation

The Workplan is stated to represent the Service’s conservation priorities based on its review of scientific information.

The ESA provides that the Service may determine that a species is endangered or threatened because of any of five factors:

1. The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range
2. Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes
3. Disease or predation
4. The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms
5. Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence

The ESA defines an “endangered species” as a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. In turn, a species is “threatened” if it is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Section 4(a)(3) of the ESA requires that the Service designate critical habitat concurrent with listing to the maximum extent prudent and determinable.

The Service caveats that the inclusion of a species in the Workplan does not mean it is going to be listed as endangered or threatened. Its determination is stated to be made following a rigorous scientific assessment of the species’ status to determine whether it meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species. Such a determination would then require the Service to undertake a rulemaking process.

The Workplan is stated to be updated regularly to reflect the Service’s consideration of new information over time.

The Workplan chart includes information for each species such as:

• Action Type
• Lead Service Region
• Priority Bin Ranking or LPN
• Fiscal Year
• Range
• Scientific Name

Species that are referenced as having range in the State of Arkansas include:

• Salamander mussel
• Plains spotted skunk
• Texas trillum
• Little brown bat
• Monarch butterfly
• Longnose darter
• Peppered shiner
• Regal fritillary
• Western chicken turtle
• Snuffbox
• Spectaclecase
• Ozark shiner
• Golden-winged warbler
• Variable cuckoo bumble bee
• Frosted Ozark shiner
• Frosted elfin butterfly
• American bumblebee
• Rocky shiner
• Slender wrist burrowing crayfish
• Hoary bat
• Linda’s roadside skipper
• Prairie gray fox

A copy of the Workplan can be downloaded here.