DESERET MILK-VETCH

photo by Ben Franklin, Utah Natural Heritage Program of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Species Description: The Deseret milk-vetch (Astragalus desereticus) is a perennial, herbaceous, subacaulescent (almost stemless) plant in thelegune family. It is approximately 2-6 inches in height, and has pinnately compound leaves (feather -like arrangement with leaflets displayed on a central stalk) that are 2-4 inches long with 11-17 leaflets. The flower petals are whitish except for pinkish whings and a lilac keel-tip, and seed pods are 0.4-0.8 inches long and densely covered with lustrous hairs.

Location: The Deseret milk-vetch habitat is narrowly restricted to steep, sandy bluffs associated with south and west facing slopes within the Moroni Formation at elevations between 5,400 and 5,600 feet. The current known range of the Deseret milk-vetch is limited to the Birdseye population which occupies an area approximately 1 mile long by 0.3 mile wide, or about 345 acres, in the Thistle Creek watershed immediately east of Birdseye, Utah. Approximately 230 acres are owned by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in the Birdseye Unit of the Northwest Mani Wildlife Management Area, 25 acres are owned by the Utah Department of Transportation, and 90 acres are on private lands owned by several landowners.

Recent Actions:   On October 20, 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) determined the Deseret milk-vetch to be a threatened species under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. as amended (Act) (64 FR 56590). The Deseret milk-vetch was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1981. Threats described in the original listing included residential development, highway widening, lovestock grazing and trampling, other impacts to its limited habitat, and a lack of protection under State or local laws or regulations.

On January 25, 2007, the Service announced our intention to conduct rulemaking under the Act (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) for the purpose of removing the Deseret milk-vetch from the List of Endangered and Threatened Plants in the near future and determined that designating criticial habitat for this plant would not be prudent (72 FR 3379). Specifically, the Service announced our intention to propose delisting the Deseret milk-vetch because threats as identified in the final listing rule are not as significant as earlier believed and are managed such that the species is not likely to become in danger of extinction throughout all or a significiant portion of its range in the foreseeable future.

On April 18, 2007, the Service announced the initiation of a 5-year revie of the Deserest milk-vetch and 8 other species (72 FR 19549). The review is an assessment of the best scientifice and commercial data available conducted under section 4(c)(2)(B) of the Act is to ensure that the classification of species as threatened or endangered on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants is accurate.

More information can be found on the Service's ECOS webpage

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