BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will assess the status of four wildlife species found in the Midwest to determine whether protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is warranted.
The agency is seeking input as it conducts in-depth studies of the northern bog lemming, wood turtle, rusty-patched bumblebee and regal fritillary, a butterfly. The FWS is initiating status reviews in response to a variety of petitions seeking to protect 25 species under the ESA.
•The northern bog lemming is found in sphagnum bogs, wet subalpine meadows and mossy forests in northern states including Minnesota, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
•Wood turtles live in Minnesota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia. They inhabit streams, woodland bogs and marshy pastures.
•The rusty-patched bumblebee is found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin. This pollinator needs a supply of flowers that bloom from April to September.
•A large orange and black butterfly, the regal fritillary is sometimes mistaken for a monarch butterfly from a distance. It is found in grasslands and prairies from eastern Colorado to the East Coast, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. As a caterpillar, it eats only violets.
Purdue University entomologist Tom Turpin said simply classifying a species as endangered has no effect on farmers or any other group. "The impact would occur only after a group would try to pass legislation that would benefit an endangered species," he explained. "Just calling something endangered has no effect."
He used the regal fritillary as an example. Because it eats only violets, a group might try to get legislation passed that would prohibit the spraying of herbicides or pesticides in the vicinity of where violets grow.
"Nothing will change until regulations are adopted to protect an endangered species," Turpin said. "That’s the way I perceive this issue, historically."
The FWS stated after it has completed its assessment of the four species, it will determine whether to propose any as endangered or threatened under the ESA. For each, the FWS must determine that listing is warranted, and may determine listing is warranted but precluded due to needs of higher-priority species.
Information pertinent to the four species may be submitted until Nov. 17. Submit information electronically at www.regu lations.gov or by mail to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife, MS:BPHC; 5275 Leesburg Pike; Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
Use the following docket numbers: northern bog lemming, FWS-R5-ES-2015-0103; wood turtle, FWS-R5-ES-2015-0122; rusty-patched bumblebee, FWS-R3-ES-2015-0112; or regal fritillary, FWS-R6-ES-2015-0078.
Turpin said in most cases species decline because habitat has been destroyed. "You can do restoration of habitat, and that may allow species to come back. But that’s like closing the barn door after these species are nearly gone."
