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FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION (R5)
VALLEJO, CA
FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
Amendment No.: R5 FSH 2609.26-2014-4
Effective Date: May 20, 2014
Duration: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or
removed earlier.
Approved: RANDY MOORE
Regional Forester
Date Approved: 5/20/2014
Posting Instructions: Amendments are numbered consecutively by Handbook number and
calendar year. Post by document; remove the entire document and replace it with this
supplement. Retain this transmittal as the first page(s) of this document. The last amendment to
this handbook was 2609.26-2014-2 to chapter 10.
New Document
2609.26_30
8 Pages
Superseded Document(s)
by Issuance Number and
Effective Date
2609.26_30-2007-1
7 Pages
Digest
Conducted a mandatory review and made minor formatting changes by adding a transmittal page
to each chapter.
R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
Table of Contents
30.04 - Responsibilities ........................................................................................................... 3
30.041 - Regional Forester ...................................................................................................... 3
30.41a - Ecosystem Conservation Staff Director .................................................................... 3
30.41b - Regional Botanist ..................................................................................................... 3
30.42 - Forest Supervisors ...................................................................................................... 4
31 - REGION FIVE SENSITIVE PLANT SPECIES ......................................................... 4
31.1 - Development of the Sensitive Plant Species List ............................................................. 4
32 - Procedures to Change the Regional Sensitive Plant and Fungi Species List .. 5
33 - Region 5 Sensitive Plant and Fungi List .............................................................. 7
2
R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
30.04 - Responsibilities
30.041 - Regional Forester
FSM 2670.4 assigns responsibility for creating and executing a Sensitive Plant and Fungi
Species List. The Regional Forester:
1. Maintains sole responsibility for designating and approving changes to the Regional
Sensitive plant and fungi species list.
2. Notifies the Ecosystem Conservation Staff Director of those changes so appropriate
staff work may be performed.
30.41a - Ecosystem Conservation Staff Director
1. Receives and reviews all proposals for changes to the Regional Sensitive Plant and
Fungi Species List for the Regional Forester.
2. Informs the Forest Supervisor that a conservation strategy is needed when review
indicates proposed changes may require special management attention to ensure that the species
is not in jeopardy, before changes may be deemed appropriate.
3. When this review indicates changes are appropriate, forwards changes along with
documentation to the Regional Forester for final approval.
4. Notifies Forest Supervisors and other interested parties, in writing, of approved
changes to the List.
5. In those cases where Sensitive Plant Fungi populations exist on multiple National
Forests, designates a “Lead Forest Supervisor” and obtains the concurrence of all affected Forest
Supervisors. This concurrence must be included in the documentation.
30.41b - Regional Botanist
1. Makes recommendations for additions and deletions to the list of sensitive species to
the Ecosystem Conservation Director.
2. Maintains the Sensitive Plant and Fungi List as needed upon receiving the approval of
changes from the Regional Forester.
3. Develops new methods for handling sensitive plants and fungi on a case-by-case basis
as needed.
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R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
30.42 - Forest Supervisors
1. Receive recommendation for changes to the Regional Sensitive Plant and Fungi
Species List from the Forest Botanist or Forest Sensitive Plant Coordinator and determines
which to forward, along with appropriate documentation to the Ecosystem Conservation Director
for final review.
2. Ensure conservation assessment documents are based on verified field data and
completed for Sensitive Plant and Fungi Species.
3. Coordinate the conservation assessment for a species with the other affected Forest
Supervisors when designated as the “Lead Forest Supervisor.”
31 - REGION FIVE SENSITIVE PLANT SPECIES
Forest Supervisors must provide current sensitive plant and fungi locational data on the National
Forest. The Regional Botanist shall use this information to maintain the Region's Sensitive Plant
and Fungi List to ensure that only those species that require special management remain as
sensitive. The Regional Botanist shall update the Region's Sensitive Plant and Fungi List as
needed, but at least once every five years.
31.1 - Development of the Sensitive Plant Species List
The following situations provide the guidance to develop the Region 5 Sensitive Plant and Fungi
Species List:
1. Significant current or predicted downward trends in population numbers or density.
2. Significant current or predicted downward trends in habitat capability that would
reduce a species' existing distribution.
3. Such low numbers or limited distribution that special management consideration is
required to maintain their presence and viability, regardless of current trend.
The Regional Forester shall designate sensitive plant and fungi species. The Region's Sensitive
Plant and Fungi Species List is available on the worldwide website at
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/sensitive-species/. When maintaining the list, the Regional
Botanist must consider those species identified in the source lists that are known, reported, or
suspected to occur on, or in the immediate vicinity of National Forest System lands in the
Region. The Regional Botanist shall also consider potentially suitable but unsearched habitat
present on National Forest System lands, unless substantiated data already available warrants
other classification. The source lists are:
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R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
1. Federal proposed endangered or threatened plant species by FWS (check Federal
Register proposed rulemaking).
2. Federal Candidate plant species by FWS (check Federal Register current Candidate
Notice of Review).
3. State-listed as endangered, threatened or rare by the State of California Endangered
Species Act of 1984. "Candidate" is the term used by the State and "proposed" is the term used
by FWS.
4. Species inventoried by the California Department of Fish and Game’s California
Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB).
5. California Native Plant Society publication: Inventory of Rare and Endangered
Vascular Plants of California (latest edition).
6. The Regional Forester may place additional species requiring special management
attention on the Region's Sensitive Plant and Fungi List. Examples include:
(a) Species more common elsewhere but with widely disjunct populations of high
conservation value for the species and found on Region 5 National Forest System
lands.
(b) Locally endemic species deemed to warrant continued monitoring or special
management to ensure against potential future viability concerns.
32 - PROCEDURES TO CHANGE THE REGIONAL SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI
SPECIES LIST
Because of the dynamic nature of the knowledge base, additions, deletions, or other changes to
the Pacific Southwest Region Sensitive Plant and Fungi List may be necessary. The following
situations and examples describe the procedure for making, recording, and documenting changes
to the list. These procedures are needed to provide adequate documentation of all changes.
1. Situations that may generate a need for changes.
a. A taxon whose reported National Forest locations were based on earlier collections
(herbarium specimens) that are subsequently determined to have been incorrectly
identified.
b. A taxon that undergoes nomenclatural changes due to clarification or modification
of earlier taxonomic treatment.
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R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 30 - SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI SPECIES LIST
c. A taxon for which new field data verifies presence or absence on National Forest
System lands in contrast to previous distributional knowledge.
d. A taxon whose recommended status by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California
Department of Fish and Game or California Native Plant Society, is changed through
a revision of their original recommendation.
e. A newly described and published taxon.
f. A taxon not previously recognized with conservation concerns or with newly
identified or emerging threats.
g. A taxon for which newly verified field data shows a substantially greater
abundance or wider distribution than was known from previous information.
h. Other presently unidentified situations that may necessitate changes in the list.
2. Procedures to Accomplish the Changes.
a. Changes pursuant to situations a-f listed in subsection 1 (above) require
verification through documentation. The need for such changes may arise from a
variety of sources. Substantiation may be an explanatory letter, copy of a publication,
notice of status revision by the original organization, or other written forms.
3. Procedures to evaluate changes to list:
a. The Regional Forester, Forest Supervisor, or Regional Botanist may submit
recommendations for correction, including the written substantiating data, to the
Ecosystem Conservation Director for action.
b. If the change is appropriate, the Regional Botanist requests the change to the
Region's Sensitive Plant and Fungi List by the Regional Forester, and notifies all
concerned National Forests and others in writing of the change.
c. The written notification, together with the recommendation and substantiating data
shall serve as the documentation for the change.
4. Procedures:
a. The Forest Supervisor should consider preparing a conservation assessment based
on all available verified field data and other supporting information which should
show:
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R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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FSH 2609.26 - BOTANICAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
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(1) The abundance, population size, vigor, distribution, and genetic diversity, when
available, of all known populations.
(2) An assessment of existing and potential threats to populations (including land
ownership).
(3) A review of management activities that affect the species or its habitat.
(4) Pertinent ecological knowledge concerning the species.
(5) Future management and monitoring actions that may be appropriate for
conservation of the taxon.
The analysis may include a review of the data and proposed action by
professional botanists outside the Forest Service. If informal consultation has
occurred, include appropriate information from that source.
b. Forward the evaluation and analysis document to the Ecosystem Conservation
Director, with a recommendation for appropriate action.
c. For species with populations on two or more National Forests, the Ecosystem
Conservation Staff Director assigns a lead Forest Supervisor, which has the
responsibility to coordinate the conservation assessment. The concurrence of all
involved National Forest Supervisors must be included in the formal documentation.
d. If the Regional Forester determines that a change is appropriate, the Regional
Botanist provides a recommendation and revises Chapter 40 of this Handbook, and
the Ecosystem Conservation Director notifies all affected National Forests and others
in writing of the change.
33 - REGION 5 SENSITIVE PLANT AND FUNGI LIST
Exhibit 01 displays the Regional Forester’s Sensitive Plant and Fungi Species List. Sensitive
species are taxa determined by the Regional Forester to require special management attention.
The sensitive list has been developed from lists of plant species under review for Federal and
State listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of California and from lists of
plants recommended by the California Native Plant Society for consideration by these agencies.
In addition, it also reflects the professional knowledge of Forest Service personnel directly
responsible for Sensitive Plant and Fungi Management on the National Forests.
This list includes only those species known, reported, or highly suspected to occur on National
Forest Lands in Region Five and for which present Region Five sensitive plant and fungi
management direction applies (FSM 2670). Federally-listed species are included as sensitive for
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R5 AMENDMENT: R5_FSH_2609.26-2014-4
EFFECTIVE DATE: 5/20/2014
DURATION: This supplement expires 5 years from the effective date unless superseded or removed
earlier.
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convenience. As new data becomes available, the sensitive plant list continues to change with
both additions and deletions. As new data is obtained, taxonomic problems clarified, or as
revisions to the source documents are made, the list is revised.
California’s Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife and Habitat Data Analysis Branch
maintains the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) which contains up-to-date
statewide location data on all species on this list. The mailing address and phone number for the
CNDDB are: 1807 13th Street, Suite 202; Sacramento, CA 95814; and (916) 322-2493 and may
also be contacted via http://www.dfg.ca.gov/whdab/html/cnddb.html
33 Exhibit 01.
Pacific Southwest Region Sensitive Plant and Fungi Species List.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/projects/sensitive-species/sensitive-plants.html
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