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Jim Nickles, (916) 414-6572
Hoover’s woolly-star – a California native plant listed as a threatened species for 13 years – has been recovered and no longer needs the protection of Federal law, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today.
This action is based on the discovery of new populations of Hoover’s woolly-star and recovery actions that contributed substantially toward meeting delisting criteria. Recovery criteria for Hoover’s woolly-star were outlined in the "Recovery Plan For Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley, California," released in 1998.
The management practices of, and commitments by, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management – on whose land a substantial number of the new populations have been found – will afford adequate protection to the species upon delisting. Following delisting, BLM will designate Hoover’s woolly-star as a "sensitive species" to provide for continued protection and monitoring of the species on BLM lands.
"Only those species needing protection should remain on the Federal list of threatened species," said Wayne White, field supervisor of the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. "We are working with the BLM to ensure that this plant never needs to be listed again."
Hoover’s woolly-star is an annual herb in the phlox family with gray fuzzy stems and tiny white to pale blue flowers, which are nearly hidden in tufts of wool-like hair. These plants can grow up to 8 inches tall. Hoover’s woolly-star tends to prefer open areas with low plant density in silty to sandy soils. Populations of this plant in the San Joaquin Valley occur along the valley’s hilly margins, at elevations of between 300 and 3,000 feet.
When it was listed in 1990, Hoover’s woolly-star was known to exist at only 19 sites in San Luis Obispo, Kern, Fresno, and Santa Barbara counties in California. Over the last decade, biologists working on recovery for the species succeeded in locating additional populations in Kings, Los Angeles and San Benito counties.
Recovery efforts have also resulted in the discovery that the plant is more resilient and less vulnerable to disturbance activities than previously known. And protection has been achieved through the cooperation of Federal, State, and private entities that own more than 286,000 acres of Hoover’s woolly-star habitat.
The Hoover’s woolly-star delisting is a final action. The Service proposed the delisting on March 6, 2001, and solicited scientific peer review of the proposal. The Service based the final decision on the best available scientific information.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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