Wyoming Threatened and Endangered Species
The BLM Wyoming Threatened and Endangered (T&E) species program participates in multiple partnerships through fiscal and technical contributions that aid in the recovery and conservation of several threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Additionally, the BLM Wyoming has developed conservation strategies for BLM public lands to avoid, minimize or reduce impacts to Threatened and Endangered species while still allowing for multiple uses and sustained yields from working landscapes within the state.
Currently, there are 24 species in Wyoming that are identified as Candidate, Proposed, Threatened or Endangered. Nine of these occurs only downstream from Wyoming and are conserved through partnerships that limit water depletions from the Colorado and Platte River drainages within the State. Two species are currently candidates for listing (whitebark pine and Fremont County rockcress) which do not currently receive protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and finally one species is proposed for listing (wolverine). All of the remaining 12 species are a primary focus of BLM’s T&E species active conservation management and recovery efforts in Wyoming. These species include black-footed ferrets, Canada lynx, gray wolf, grizzly bear, yellow-billed cuckoo, Kendall warm springs dace, Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, Northern long-eared bat, blowout penstemon, Colorado butterfly plant, desert yellowhead, and Ute ladies’-tresses.
BLM Wyoming works actively to recover these species by helping develop recovery plans, such as blowout penstemon, developing species assessments, providing for long-term conservation and management recommendations for public lands that provide habitats for T&E species, such as those in the Greater Yellowstone Area for grizzly bear and gray wolf and BLM also recently worked with the Wyoming Game and Fish and the US Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce black-footed ferrets back onto two private ranches near Meeteetse, Wyoming. These ranches have associated BLM public lands that will help to support partnerships that ensure a future for both the operations of the private landowners and their permitted livestock operations, as well as conservation of prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets that share the landscape with them. Other projects include developing and updating recovery plans and objectives for blowout penstemon, Kendall warm springs dace, Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, Desert yellowhead, and others.
For the plant species, survey efforts continue for Ute ladies’-tresses, desert yellowhead and blowout penstemon. Additionally, BLM Wyoming is proactively working to ensure necessary information gathering prior to and immediately following any listing decisions for several species that face potential listing or increased restrictions in the coming months and years. BLM is actively inventorying, assessing and monitoring, as well as mapping, habitats for swift fox, northern long eared bats, western bumblebee, yellow banded bumblebee, Fremont county rockcress, whitebark pine, and both black and white-tailed prairie dogs.