Septemberl982 vol. vn NO. 9 Department of interior. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Technical Bulletin Endangered Species Program, Washington, D.C. 20240 Eastern States Orchid Listed as Endangered The small whorled pogonia (Isotria light green, elliptic, somewhat pointed was purchased several years ago solely medeoloides), which numbers fewer leaves. The short sepals are up to 2.5 for the purpose of protecting this rare than 500 individual plants in 10 states in cm long and help distinguish the spe- orchid population. the eastern United States and Canada, cies from the other member of the ge- The species is officially listed as an was listed by the Service as Endan- nus, Isotria verticillata, which is more endangered species by State law in gered (F.R. 9^0/82). The continued ex- common and has longer sepals. At ma- Michigan, North Carolina, and Massa- istence of this rare orchid is endangered turity the plants are 9.5-25 cm tall. chusetts, and in the Province of Ontario, by taking of the plants and loss of Isotria medeoloides was originally and the Government of Canada. Official habitat. proposed for listing on June 16, 1976, listing under the 1973 Act, as amended, but was subsequently withdrawn in will provide a means by which various The species was named in 1814 and 1979 in accordance with the listing conservation and recovery actions can was known historically to occur in 48 deadline imposed by the 1978 Amend- be implemented to insure the continued counties in 16 eastern States and Can- ments to the Endangered Species Act. existence of this plant throughout its ada. Today it is known to occur in 15 The Service reproposed the species on range. Michigan, Connecticut, Rhode counties in 10 different States (Illinois, September 11, 1980, basing its propos- Island, North Carolina, and South Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New al on sufficient new information which Carolina, all States in the species' Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, indicated that it is in danger of range, have entered into formal agree- Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia) extinction. ments for the protection and conserva- and one county in Ontario, Canada. A total of 38 comments were received tion of plants as provided by Section Two of the 17 known sites are located 6(c)(2) of the Act. About 50 individuals on U.S. Forest Service land; the re- in response to the reproposal, including letters from the Governors of 15 States. of Isotria medeol6ides could be cov- mainder are on privately owned land. ered by the agreements. Over 70 percent of the known plants are All these interested parties and Gover- in Maine. nors supported the proposal to list The U.S. named this species on a Isotria medeoloides as Endangered. provisional list for the Annex to the Con- Critical Habitat has not been deter- The U.S. Forest Service supported vention on Nature Protection and Wild- mined for Isotria medeoloides on the listing the species throughout its histori- life Preservation in the Western Hemi- basis that the disclosure of specific lo- cal range, citing no significant impact of sphere during a conference held in Mar calities would further endanger the or- listing on the 2VA acres of National For- del Plata, Argentina, October 1965. The chid's continued existence, making it est areas in which the species occurs. species was included on Appendix II of vulnerable to taking for noncommercial Comments received from the Governor the Convention on International Trade purposes. This fear is not unfounded— of Michigan indicated that the Michigan in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna today, there are nearly as many, if not Nature Association currently owns the and Flora (CITES) at the original pleni- more, dried specimens of the species in land on which the small whorled potentiary conference in Washington, herbaria than are known to exist in the pogonia occurs in that State. The land D.C. in February and March 1973. wild. Many former localities, some dating back to the late 1800's, have been inad- vertantly lost due to habitat alteration. Based on herbaria label data and recent field checks of these sites, shopping malls, housing developments, and golf courses now mark the localities of his- torical populations. Conservation pro- grams for the species, therefore, must be concerned with the availability of in- formation on specific sites, so that nei- ther inadvertant nor deliberate destruc- tion occurs. The plant can be found in a variety of forest types but is most often associ- ated with relatively open areas in decid- uous hardwoods. The orchid produces one or two yellowish-green flowers (from mid-May in the south to mid-June in the north) above a whorl of five or six This rare orchid ("Isotria medeoloides^ is endangered by taking and habitat loss. ton Department of Game, and carried out by personnel of the Santa Cruz fa- cilities. This is the second hacking at- tempt this year within the Olympia Area; the first was in Oregon (see June 1982 BULLETIN). It is hoped that these birds will survive and eventually establish ter- ritories in the Columbia River Gorge. The peregrine falcon, as a breeding species, has been extirpated in Idaho for about a decade. To help the rees- tablishment of a breeding population in that State, the Service cooperated in a reintroduction project with the Peregrine Fund West (Fort Collins, Colorado), the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and two private contributors (the Simpiot and Boise Cascade Corpora- tions). Two release sites were estab- Endangered Species Program re- Research Group Lab, were transported lished in Idaho in the summer of 1982. gional staffers have reported the fol- to the Columbia River Gorge on the A total of eight peregrine falcons were lowing activities for the month of Washington side and placed in an artifi- successfully released and fledged from August: cial nest structure (hack box) near a his- these sites. This provides optimism for Region 1—Three peregrine falcon toric eyrie as part of a reintroduction ef- the future of the peregrine falcon recov- (Faico peregrlnus) chicks, bred in cap- fort. The project is being funded by the ery program in Idaho. A minimum of 90 tivity at the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Service, administered by the Washing- birds will be released in the State during the next 5 to 7 years. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 3, Federal BIdg., Fort Snelling, Forty-nine active peregrine falcon Washington, D.C. 20240 Twin Cities, MM 55111 pairs have been monitored for repro- Robert A. Jantzen, Director (612-725-3500): Harvey Nelson, Re- ductive success in California, and 15 (202-343-4717) gional Director; John S. Popowski, sites were manipulated to improve re- Ronald E. Lambertson Assistant Regional Director; James productive success. Sixty young fledged Associate Director and M. Engel, Endangered Species from these wild nests for an average of Endangered Species Program Manager Specialist. 1.2 young fledged per active pair, al- (202-343-4646) Region 4, Richard B. Russell Federal though 14 of the sites failed to fledge John L. Spinks, Chief, BIdg., 75 Spring St., S.W., Atlanta, GA young. Four young peregrines were Office of Endangered Species 30303 (404-221-3583): James W. cross-fostered to two pairs of non-listed (703-235-2771) Pulliam, Regional Director; John I. prairie falcons (FaIco mexicanus), and Richard Parsons, Chief, Christian, Assistant Regional Direc- 12 young were released at four hack Federal Wiidlife Permit Office tor; Alex B. Montgomery, Endangered sites. This resulted in 76 young pere- (703-235-1937) Species Specialist. grines added to the California wild pop- Clark R. Bavin, Chief, Region 5, Suite 700, One Gateway Cen- ulation in 1982. Almost all young were Division of Law Enforcement ter, Newton Corner, MA 02158 banded prior to fledging. (202-343-9242) (617-965-5100): Howard Larsen, Re- An agency review draft of the TECHNICAL BULLETIN STAFF gional Director; Stephen W. Parry, Macfarlane's Four O'Clock Recovery Clare Senecal Kearney, Editor Assistant Regional Director; Paul Plan has been completed. This plant is Michael Bender, Assistant Editor Nickerson, Endangered Species a member of the Nyctaginaceae or "four (703-235-2407) Specialist. o'clock" family. In Latin, its generic Regional Offices name, Mirabilis means wondrous. This Region 1, Suite 1692, Lloyd 500 BIdg., Region 6, P.O. Box 25486, Denver Fed- species, M. macfarlanei, was named for 500 N.E. Multnomah St., Portland, OR eral Center, Denver, CO 80225 Ed Macfarlane, a boatman on the Snake 97232 (503-231-6118): Richard J. My- (303-234-2209): Galen Buterbaugh, River who pointed out the plant to shak, Regional Director; William F. Regional Director; John D. Greene, Rollins and Constance in 1936. These Shake, Assistant Regional Director, Assistant Regional Director; Don botanists described the species later Sanford R. Wilbur, Endangered Spe- Rodgers, Endangered Species that year. In 1947, Davis, an Idaho bot- cies Specialist. Specialist. anist, discovered it on the Salmon River Region 2, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, Region 7, 1101 E. Tudor Rd., Anchor- in Idaho. Later fruitless searches for Mi- NM 87103 (505-766-2321); Michael J. rabilis led botanists to consider it possi- age, AK 99503 (907-276-3800, ext. Spear, Regional Director; Conrad A. bly extinct. It wasn't until 1978 that a 495): Keith M. Schreiner, Regional Di- Fjetland, Assistant Regional Director; small colony was noted in Hell's Canyon rector; Jon Nelson, Assistant Region- Jack B. Woody, Endangered Species Recreation Area in Oregon. It has since Specialist. al Director; Dennis Money, Endan- been found in three additional localities, gered Species Specialist. including what is thought to be the type U.S.