We solicited public comment on this project by posting the announcement on the right on the websites of the following organizations: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Center for North American Herpetology, Ecological Society of America (ECOLOG-L), Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, and The Wildlife Society. In addition, we circulated the announcement widely to colleagues via email. Following the public comment period, we also contacted experts on each taxon under consideration to request advice, data, and reviews of early drafts of this document.
California’s list of Amphibian and Reptile Species of Special Concern (ARSSC) is a critical component of the management and protection of amphibians and reptiles in the state. The current California ARSSC list is undergoing a complete revision to better reflect those taxa that require some measure of conservation to stabilize populations and avoid future listing under the California Endangered Species Act. To date, the ARSSC revision team has developed a set of risk metrics, compiled a list of nominee taxa, and completed a preliminary risk assessment for each nominee based on literature reviews and locality information. Now, we need your help to make sure that we have the most accurate and complete list possible of SSC for potential inclusion in the final list. The best list will require input from as many knowledgeable biologists as possible. If you have data, well-documented field experience, or unpublished observations that are relevant to California’s amphibian and reptile fauna, we invite you to share them with us.
Further details, risk assessments, and instructions for submitting feedback are available at http://arssc.ucdavis.edu. The public comment period closes August 31st, 2009.
Bob Thomson
Amber Wright
Brad Shaffer
Center for Population Biology
University of California
Davis, CA 95616