Status of Listed Species and Recovery Plan Development
Navasota Ladies'-tresses
Spiranthes parksii -- Endangered
Texas
Current Status:
Oil and gas exploration, mining activities, and habitat alteration for agricultural purposes continue to threaten this fragile orchid, as does the rapid growth of College Station residential and commercial areas and transportation systems.
Achievements:
The recent discovery of two new populations has added to the known numbers of this species. Under a section 7 consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, a no-jeopardy opinion was issued in connection with the 30-year mining plan at the Gibbons Creek Lignite Mine. The Texas Municipal Power Agency agreed to protect an orchid site from mining activity, and to continue transplanting orchids from mining-disturbed areas to protected sites. This agency also agreed to monitor the species at these protected sites, conduct annual plant surveys on project lands, and design a mining plan protecting orchid concentrations at the southeastern part of the mine, thus reducing potential impact to the species.
Current Recovery Needs:
Increasing the number of protected sites on public and private lands is a high priority. Continued monitoring of selected populations to clarify demographic information also is needed, as is research into appropriate habitat management strategies.
Partnerships
Texas Municipal Power Agency: Navasota ladies'-tresses receive protection at several sites on Gibbons Creek Lignite Mine Project lands. These lands are set aside by the Texas Municipal Power Agency and protected from future mining activity. These areas are fenced and used for cattle grazing at levels that do not harm the plants.Texas A&M University: University staff have been monitoring orchid populations to obtain information describing the plants' ecological and demographic status. They also are assisting with a draft revision of the recovery plan.
Recovery Plan Status:
Plan approved 9/21/84.
