What Happened
On February 3, 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that the Morro shoulderband snail is no longer in danger of extinction and the Service is improving the snail’s listing status from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Read more in the full Regulatory Alert.
Why It Matters
The change in status is a result of the Service considering new data collected in collaboration with local municipalities, conservation organizations, SWCA, and other entities. When the snail was listed, it was thought that only a few hundred individuals remained in limited areas. The new data shows that there are thousands of individuals occurring in varied habitats.
The downlisting is accompanied by a special rule under section 4(d) of the ESA. The special rule exempts from the ESA’s prohibitions take of the snail that is a result of native habitat restoration activities and/or fire hazard reduction activities. Other activities that cause take still require authorization from the Service.
Implications
The snail occurs in areas of Morro Bay inclusive of Los Osos on the central coast of California. The snail occurs in areas with Baywood fine sand and dune land soils that support suitable shelter habitat. If your project occurs in the Morro Bay or Los Osos areas, will result in disturbance to Baywood fine sand or dune land soils, and…
