Know the Endangered/Threatened Species in Your

DR. RIC BESSIN

PRINCETON, KENTUCKY

Across Kentucky and the United States, there is a patchwork of counties that are home to various endangered and threatened species. Some may be listed as species under ‘consideration,’ such as the monarch butterfly, or those that are in ‘recovery.’ While in the United States there are 75 insect and 11 arachnid species listed as endangered and an additional 15 insect species listed as ‘threatened,’ none of these are known to occur in Kentucky. However, there is a large number of other endangered/threatened species in various parts of our state, including flowering plants. Of these, there are 3 endangered, 5 threatened, and 4 flowering plant species in recovery.

Figure 1. The monarch butterfly is under consideration by U.S. Fish and Wildlife as an endangered or threatened species (Photo: Ric Bessin, UK).

   Pesticide applicators must oversee their pesticide applications so that they do not harm endangered/threatened species and stay compliant with the Endangered Species Act. Part of that is understanding which of these species are near the areas where they farm.

   Pesticide applicators wanting to know if there are endangered/threatened species in the county where they farm have a quick online resource available to them.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFW) maintains the Environmental Conservation Online System(ESOS) website that enables users to see a list of endangered/threatened species on a county-by-county basis for any state in the country. Additional information for each of the species listed is available. ∆