Help Get Salamanders Endangered Species Protection

FOR RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the Austin blind, Salado, Georgetown and Jollyville Plateau salamanders as needing protection under the Endangered Species Act. This is due to the salamanders facing increasingly degraded habitats in which to live in. All four of these species are designated as Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is the world's foremost authority on the conservation statuses of species.

However, this prospective protection from the Endangered Species List (which would enforce strict federal guidelines for any future development around the salamanders’ habitat) is facing much opposition. Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. John Carter authored the Salamander Community Conservation Act, which contrary to the name would make it harder to protect salamander species by stopping their inclusion on the endangered species list. Many officials from across Texas are also opposing the salamanders receiving endangered species protection, which makes it imperative that concerned individuals speak up. 

We, the undersigned, as citizens of the United States of America hereby fully support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to add the Austin Blind Salamander (Eurycea waterlooensis), Salado Spring Salamander (Eurycea chisholmensis), Georgetown Salamander (Eurycea naufragia) and Jollyville Plateau Salamander (Eurycea tonkawae) to the Endangered Species List. Furthermore, we fully support the protection that the Endangered Species Act will provide to these salamander species in the state of Texas.