As recently discussed, the United States government is most likely going to list the loggerhead turtle as endangered rather than its current standing as threatened. While this is good news, overall the Obama administration has not been quick to hand out endangered listings. The Obama administration has had the lowest listing rate of any of the most recent U.S. presidents.

However, after an announcement made this past week, the Obama administration has vastly increased their endangered species listings. Before this past week, the number of species listed as endangered stood at only two. But a recent addition of 48 different species to be designated as endangered has now increased that number to 50.

All of the recent additions hail from the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The majority of the species listed are plants, including 45 ferns, trees, shrubs and the popular loulu palm. The other three species include a fly and two honeycreeper birds. Critical habitat is to be set aside for the species, including 40 square miles.[...]

[Published in GreenNews - Read the original article]