Description: Critical habitat are areas considered essential for the conservation of a listed species. Federal agencies are required to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on actions they carry out, fund, or authorize to ensure that their actions will not destroy or adversely modify critical habitat. These areas provide notice to the public and land managers of the importance of these areas to the conservation of a listed species. Special protections and/or restrictions are possible in areas where Federal funding, permits, licenses, authorizations, or actions occur or are required. When a species is proposed for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must consider whether there are areas of habitat believed to be essential the species' conservation. Those areas may be proposed for designation as “critical habitat.” Critical habitat is a term defined and used in the Act. It is a specific geographic area(s) that contains features essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and that may require special management and protection. Critical habitat may include an area that is not currently occupied by the species but that will be needed for its recovery. An area is designated as “critical habitat” after the Service publishes a proposed Federal regulation in the Federal Register and receives and considers public comments on the proposal. The final boundaries of the critical habitat are also published in the Federal Register. ATTRIBUTE INFORMATION Note: Only those attributes and/or value definitions from NM CHAT that are included in this dataset are described below. FIELD DESCRIPTION comname Legal common name of the species sciname Binomial or trinomial scientific name spcode Unique Species Code vipcode Unique Population Code status Code designating species status: “Final”, “Proposed”, “Exempt / Excluded”, “Vacated” fedreg Federal Register ID pubdate Federal Register publication date listing_st A species is listed under one of two categories, endangered species or threatened species, depending on its status and the degree of threat it faces. For more information please refer to the species-level metadata found with individual, specific-specific shapefiles (see Source Data). This dataset was incorporated into the Data Atlas component of the Statewide Natural Resources Assessment for the 2020 New Mexico Forest Action Plan. The Atlas was prepared principally for use in spatial prioritization of resource protection and restoration strategies over 2020 – 2030 by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) Forestry Division (Forestry Division) and its partners. The dataset belongs to the Assessment's Biodiversity resource theme.
Copyright Text: This dataset was incorporated into the Data Atlas by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) on behalf of the Forestry Division. Source Data: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2020. ‘Critical Habitat for Threatened and Endangered Species'. Available online at: https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/report/table/critical-habitat.html