Introduction
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has issued a proposal to provide protections and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for two slender salamanders living in California’s southern Sierra Nevada in and around Kern County. The USFWS seeks public comments through December 19th, 2022.
SAVE THE FROGS! has submitted an official comment supporting the listing of the Relictual Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps relictus) as endangered and the Kern Canyon Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps simatus) as threatened; and the designation of 2,685 acres of critical habitat for B. relictus and 2,051 acres of critical habitat for Batrachoseps simatus.
You can read our comment below.
Read Our Official Comment Here
2022-12-15-USFWS-Salamander-Listing-Kern-CountyAbout The Slender Salamander Species
The Relictual Slender Salamander is found from the lower Kern River canyon in Kern County to highlands drained by Tule River and Kern River in central Tulare County, and from one site on the western margin of the Kern plateau. It has apparently been extirpated in the lower Kern River Canyon, possibly due to highway construction, which altered the salamander’s habitat of seepages and springs. It is currently known from only two locations separated by about three miles, making the range extremely limited and vulnerable.
The Kern Canyon Slender Salamander is found in the lower Kern River Canyon from the Stork Creek to Erskine Creek. Their available habitat is in small disjunct patches, suggesting that population sizes are small. The potential threats are the resident and commercial development, agriculture, and road and railroad construction.
Submit Your Comment By December 19th, 2022
We encourage you to submit your own comment in support of the USFWS proposal. We have pasted some suggested text for your comment below. Please edit the text as you see appropriate and personalize it so that it appears unique!
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to submit an official comment related to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to provide protections and designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for two slender salamanders living in California’s southern Sierra Nevada.
I support the listing of the Relictual Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps relictus) as endangered and the Kern Canyon Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps simatus) as threatened; and the designation of 2,685 acres of critical habitat for B. relictus and 2,051 acres of critical habitat for Batrachoseps simatus.
Both of these species have seen significant reductions in both population size and habitat range, and will benefit significantly from the protections being proposed.
I encourage the USFWS to protect these species and the habitats on which their survival depends. Thank you!
