Environmental Matters in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is going to remove the Concho water snake (Nerodia paucimaculata)from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife.  The agency will also remove federal protections of the snake’s designated critical habitat.  The agency believes that threats to this species have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the species has recovered and no longer meets the definition of threatened or endangered under the Act.  The Concho water snake is a reptile endemic to central Texas. It was listed as threatened on September 3, 1986, due to threats of habitat modification and destruction (51 FR 31412).