North Carolina wildlife still endangered, threatened.
The green salamander, which has been on the North Carolina Endangered Species List since the early 1990s, is now being proposed by the wildlife commission for downlisting to the Threatened Species List.
The salamander is one of 37 species proposed for changes on the state list of protected wildlife.
This green salamander’s downlisting means the species has rebounded a bit from immediate threat of extinction under the state Endangered Species Act.
Biologists use the protected wildlife list to identify and conduct conservation projects to increase species population numbers.
The green salamander, native to Western North Carolina, is the only endangered salamander in the state, Williams said.
When your life is in danger There are 54 species listed on the North Carolina Endangered Species List.
Most of these are also on the Federal Endangered Species List.
For example the barn owl, which is being proposed for the state’s special concern list because of severe declines in its habitat and populations in North Carolina, is not listed federally.
It’s just in the Southeast we have concerns about it, and in North Carolina particular,” Weeks said.