Update to the Idaho Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Special Status Plant List
Bureau of Land Management
1387 South Vinnell Way
Boise, ID 83709-1657
United States
6840 (931) P
In accordance with BLM Manual 6840, BLM Special Status Species (SSS) Lists are required to reflect current conservation status to assist in addressing conservation management needs and help establish priorities. The Idaho BLM Special Status Plant List has been updated, based on the latest science, to assist the field in addressing conservation and monitoring priorities.
Mission
This Instruction IM transmits Idaho’s Special Status Plant list update. The Bureau’s national SSS policy (6840.04 sections D.4 and D.6,), provide that State Directors are responsible for, “…ensuring that all actions comply with the Endangered Species Act…including compliance with Section 7 consultations and conferences with the USFWS and National Marine Fisheries Service” and for “designating Bureau sensitive species within their respective jurisdictions, and at least once every five years, reviewing and updating the Bureau sensitive species list…”. On BLM-administered lands, all offices are to “…manage Bureau sensitive species and their habitats to minimize or eliminate threats affecting the status of the species or to improve the condition of the species habitat” (6840.2.C). The BLM Manual 6840 further defines Bureau sensitive species as species that require special management consideration to avoid potential future listing under the Endangered Species Act.
Effective immediately
Since publication of the last formal update to the SSS Plant List in FY2019, new information suggests that changes to the list were warranted including updating of some taxonomic names, conservation status and occurrences in Field Offices (Attachment 1). Several plant species were removed from the list based on improving population trends or a re-evaluation of their nexus with BLM management. Several other species were added due to recent state or regional concerns (Attachment 2).
6840 Special Status Species Management
Anne Halford, Botany and Plant Conservation and Restoration Program Lead, ahalford@blm.gov, (208) 901-2286 and Ethan Ellsworth, Threatened and Endangered Species Program Lead and acting Aquatic Resources Program Lead, eellsworth@blm.gov, (208) 373-4045.
This action was coordinated between the Idaho State Office Branch of Resources and Science, Field Botanists, Ecologists, and Natural Resource Specialists in the districts and field offices. Reviews and input were also provided by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and other professional botanists via the Southwest Idaho Rare Plant Working Group.