The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking public review and comment on the draft Recovery Plan for the Devils River minnow (Dionda diaboli).  The species was listed as threatened in 1999 under the Endangered Species Act and is also listed as threatened by the State of Texas.

 

Recovery plans identify specific, voluntary actions that will help recover the fish so it may be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species.  Objectives and criteria for delisting the species are spelled out.  In addition, the fish?s status and current management practices are noted.

 

            This small fish is known to occur in three streams in Val Verde and Kinney counties, Texas, all tributaries to the Rio Grande: Devils River, San Felipe Creek and Pinto Creek.  It also occurs in the Río Salado drainage in Chihuahua, Mexico.  The current status of the species in Sycamore Creek, Texas, and in the Río Salado drainage in Mexico is not known.  The species was once found in the lower portions of the Devils River (now Amistad Reservoir in Val Verde County), Las Moras Creek (Kinney County), and from the Río San Carlos (Mexico) but is no longer believed to be there. 

 

            Proposed recovery actions include: (1) to maintain and enhance Devils River minnow populations and habitats range-wide; (2) to establish additional Devils River minnow populations within the historic range, specifically in Las Moras Creek; and (3) to maintain genetic reserves of Devils River minnow through captive propagation.          

 

The Devils River minnow depends on the constant clean flow of spring waters and is put at extreme risk by habitat loss and degradation caused by spring flow declines, water pollution and impacts from introduced non-native species. 

 

Since the fish was listed, the Service has been working closely with Texas Parks and Wildlife, the City of Del Rio and private landowners to implement voluntary conservation measures and to develop conservation strategies that are included in the draft Recovery Plan.  ?The help of private landowners, along with the cooperation of State and local governments, and other federal agencies, will be key to the recovery of the Devils River minnow,? said the Service?s Southwest Regional Director Dale Hall.

 

The Service uses a priority system for recovery of listed species with a range of 1 to 18, with 1 ranking as highest.  The Devils River minnow has a recovery priority of two, which indicates that Devils River minnow is a species with a high degree of threat yet has high recovery potential.

           

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking the public to review and comment on the Draft Recovery Plan.  The deadline for providing comments is April 11.  Copies can be obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Austin Ecological Services Field Office, 10711 Burnet Road, Suite 200, Austin, Texas, 78758.  It can also be accessed on the internet at:  http://southwest.fws.gov/htopic.html/ or http://ifw2es.fws.gov/AustinTexas/.  Comments and materials may be mailed to ?Field Supervisor? at the address above. 

 

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 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources 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 and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

 

Visit the Service?s website at:  http://www.fws.gov