The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined on September 4 that nine petitioned plants and animals do not meet the Endangered Species Act's legal definitions of endangered or threatened, ending status reviews that in one case rested on a petition filed in 2008. The decision means none of the nine will receive federal habitat protections, take prohibitions, or recovery funding tied to a listing.

The species are the Chesapeake logperch, a small darter endemic to the lower Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and Maryland; Kirtland's snake, a secretive, mostly underground snake of the Midwest; the orangefin madtom, a small catfish in Virginia and North Carolina river systems; the tall western penstemon, a wet-prairie wildflower endemic to the northern Willamette Valley and southern Puget Trough of Oregon and Washington; and five land snails found in Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity and Humboldt counties in California.

For residents in those regions, the practical effect is the absence of a new federal layer. Landowners, farmers, developers and local governments in the lower Susquehanna basin, the upper Roanoke and James River corridors, the northern Willamette Valley and the Klamath Mountains will not face consultation requirements or permitting reviews that a listing would have triggered. State-level protections and local restoration programs remain unchanged.

Inside the Service's Reasoning on Range and Resilience

The findings published in the Federal Register do not dispute that the nine species face real pressure. For the five California snails, the Service identified prolonged drought and rising temperatures alongside severe wildfire as the two primary threats, and listed limestone and gold mining, timber harvest, grazing, off-road vehicle activity and the potential raising of Shasta Dam among secondary pressures. For the Chesapeake logperch, the leading threats are poor water quality, including nutrient loading and sedimentation, and dams that block dispersal. The orangefin madtom faces water pollution, sedimentation, dams and extreme flooding and drought.

The Service's conclusion turns on a separate question: whether those threats are severe enough, across enough of each species' range, to meet the statutory standard. Agency biologists divided each range into analysis units, scored current and projected condition, then asked whether any lower-condition portion was legally significant. In every case the answer was no.

That reasoning matters most for the two fish. The Service divided the logperch's range into 18 analysis units and found that 11 of the 15 units it could score, about 73 percent, were highly or moderately resilient. It also found the logperch may be in danger of extinction in four southern units now, and may become so in five units under later projections, but concluded that portion is not significant because it holds a small share of populations and offers no unique habitat. The orangefin madtom followed the same path: the Smith and Mayo river systems hold roughly 12 percent of occupied stream habitat, which the Service judged too small a share to drive a rangewide listing.

Susquehanna Anglers and Landowners Face No New Federal Layer

The Chesapeake logperch decision carries the clearest local consequence. Penn State researchers have documented the fish in the Susquehanna between Holtwood Dam and Conowingo Dam and in several tributaries, and the Service describes its range as the lower Susquehanna basin and connected waters in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

State agencies had spent years working to keep it off the federal list. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has led a restoration effort with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Service and other partners aimed at keeping the fish off the federal endangered list, and the commission's species page notes that the logperch is listed as threatened in both Pennsylvania and Maryland. That state status is unaffected by the September 4 finding.

Jay Stauffer, a distinguished professor of ichthyology at Penn State who helped lead propagation work, framed the stakes plainly when the university described the restoration program in 2019. Federal listing, he said then, would cause a lot of problems with development in the lower Susquehanna basin and around the upper Chesapeake Bay. His remarks predate the current finding, but they explain why state agencies invested in hatchery rearing and reintroduction rather than waiting for a federal decision.

A Second Denial for Kirtland's Snake After a Court Settlement

Kirtland's snake reaches this outcome for the second time. The Service declined to list it in 2017. The Center for Biological Diversity and the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a complaint challenging that decision in 2022, and a July 2024 settlement required a fresh 12-month finding, originally due June 30, 2026, later extended to September 28, 2026. The September 4 document fulfills that agreement.

The groups' position differs sharply from the Service's. Announcing the settlement, Center for Biological Diversity endangered species director Noah Greenwald said The wetlands that Kirtland's snakes need are mostly gone and continue to disappear. The group also pointed to modeling projecting that under a quarter of the snake's current habitat would remain suitable by 2060. The Service's 2026 assessment reached a different conclusion, projecting that counties with a higher share of high-resiliency sites will remain distributed across all seven states with extant populations through late century, partly because the snake spends most of its time underground in crayfish and other burrows that hold moisture and buffer temperature.

Readers should weigh the source of each claim. The Center for Biological Diversity is the petitioner and was the plaintiff, and the habitat projection it cited comes from outside modeling rather than from the agency's own assessment. The Service sent its 2026 species status assessment for the snake to three independent peer reviewers and received three responses. The two sets of conclusions have not been reconciled in any public document.

Where the Findings Leave State Protections and Restoration Work

Nothing in the decision removes existing state safeguards. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Kirtland's snake is protected as endangered in Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania and as threatened in Illinois and Ohio. The Chesapeake logperch is state-listed in both states where it survives. Every recognized tall western penstemon population sits on land protected or managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, or Metro, the regional government for the Oregon side of the Portland metropolitan area. Nine new penstemon sites were planted in 2025, with roughly half confirmed to be flowering the same year.

Residents who fish, hike or own streamside property in the affected watersheds face no new restrictions and no new permissions. Anyone planning work near the lower Susquehanna, the upper Roanoke or Willamette Valley wet prairie should still check state permit requirements, which operate independently of federal listing status.

The Service says it will accept new information on any of the nine species at any time, through the field offices named in the notice or the supporting dockets on regulations.gov. Not-warranted findings can be challenged in federal court, and the Kirtland's snake history shows litigation can reopen a closed review. The Service issued a similar not-warranted finding for two other species in June, part of a steady stream of petition decisions this year.

For now, the most useful takeaway is narrow and concrete. The nine species remain unprotected federally, the threats the Service documented remain real, and the burden of conservation stays with state wildlife agencies, refuge managers, and the hatchery and replanting programs already underway.

What Readers Want to Know

What did the Fish and Wildlife Service actually decide?

The Service found that nine petitioned species do not meet the Endangered Species Act's definitions of endangered or threatened, either throughout their full ranges or throughout any legally significant portion. The findings were made September 4, 2026.

Which species are covered?

The Chesapeake logperch, Kirtland's snake, the orangefin madtom, the tall western penstemon, and five California land snails: the Big Bar hesperian, Shasta chaparral, Shasta hesperian, Shasta sideband and Wintu sideband.

Does this mean the species are not in trouble?

No. The Service documented drought, wildfire, water-quality impairment, dams, and habitat loss as active threats. Its conclusion was that enough populations remain in high or moderate condition to withstand those threats, which is a different question from whether the species are declining.

Do state protections still apply?

Yes. The Chesapeake logperch is state-listed in Pennsylvania and Maryland, Kirtland's snake carries state protection in several Midwestern states, and state permit rules are unaffected by a federal not-warranted finding.

Could this decision be reversed?

It could. Not-warranted findings are subject to legal challenge, and the Kirtland's snake finding itself follows a 2024 settlement that required the Service to redo a 2017 decision after litigation.

Where can residents read the underlying science?

Species status assessments and peer-review results are posted on regulations.gov under the docket numbers listed in the Federal Register notice, one for each species group.

What should landowners in the affected watersheds do now?

Nothing is required. Anyone planning construction, dredging, or streambank work should confirm state and local permit obligations, which remain in force regardless of the federal outcome.