Protected Species

Background

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) establishes protections for fish, wildlife, and plant species that are listed as threatened or endangered. The ESA provides requirements for adding and removing species from the list of threatened and endangered species and for preparing and implementing plans for their recovery. The ESA promotes interagency cooperation to avoid the taking of listed species and to issue permits for otherwise prohibited activities. Take as defined under the ESA means “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.” Listing under the ESA provides immediate protection, promotes recovery, and generates greater public awareness about the threats and conservation opportunities. Under the ESA, the USFWS may determine that a species is an endangered or threatened species because of any of five factors: 

(1)    The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range 

(2)    Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes 

(3)    Disease or predation 

(4)    The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or 

(5)    Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence are also taken into account in conservation efforts, such as Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs).

In 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in collaboration with North Texas Municipal Water District, Trinity River Authority, Tarrant Regional Water District, the City of Dallas, and the City of Fort Worth, developed a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for six species in the Trinity River Basinthe Alligator Snapping Turtle in Texas.   The CCAA is an agreement between USFWS and property owners that provides a mechanism to implement conservation measures to reduce threats to the candidate species. More information on species included in the CCAA is provided below. 

For more information on the CCAA, please visit the websites below:

• CCAA for six species in the Trinity River Basin
• Environmental Initiatives

Trinity River Authority (TRA) has created a CCAA training video in cooperation with NTMWD for NTMWD employees and contractors to learn how to incorporate best management practices (BMPs) into their job responsibilities to protect the candidate species.

CCAA Training Video

• Trinity CCAA 7BMPS 
• Trinity CCAA 10BMPS

Alligator Snapping Turtles

The USFWS is proposing listing the Alligator Snapping Turtle under the ESA. Currently, these turtles are considered threatened by TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) and, as such, are afforded protection in Texas. 

More information on the species is needed to manage the Alligator Snapping Turtle's habitat in Texas effectively. For populations to persist, they require adequate breeding, feeding, sheltering, and survival conditions. Conservation measures that have been implemented for the Alligator Snapping Turtle include head-starting and reintroductions, as well as various efforts to restore and improve habitat. Therefore, we are asking for the public's help to submit any sightings of the Alligator Snapping Turtle. In March 2021, the Trinity River Authority began a public outreach and education project, in cooperation with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), designed to educate citizens about the state-protected status of the Alligator Snapping Turtle and to enhance the understanding of the distribution of the species. Reported sightings will be tracked by the Trinity River Authority so information can be added to the Texas Natural Diversity Database; which is maintained by TPWD and is used to assist with statewide research and conservation efforts. The Alligator Snapping Turtle is often confused with the Common Snapping Turtle, which currently does not have special protections and sightings do not need to be reported. For tips on identifying the Alligator Snapping Turtle, please see the diagrams below.

Photo Credit: Alligator snapping turtle, Garry Tucker/USFWS, Public DomainPhoto Credit: Alligator snapping turtle, iNaturalist Photo, (c) Taylor Blazi