Comments closed August 6
Support federal protection for two rare Kern Canyon salamanders
Fish and Wildlife Service · Kern Canyon
- What
- Two salamander species found only in Kern County could gain endangered species protections and critical habitat designation.
- Where
- Kern Canyon
- How much
- The Kern Canyon slender salamander and relictual slender salamander exist nowhere else on Earth and face enough threats to warrant federal listing.
- Decided
- Comments closed August 6, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Federal Register ↗, read July 9, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Federal Register 2026-13719 ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the notice names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedAugust 6, 2026, from Federal Register, the document’s comment close date (federalregister.gov) ↗. Read July 9, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 10, 2026.
Brian R. Nesvik
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A person signed this, not an agency. The window has closed and the signature stands, which is exactly when accountability matters.
Short is better. You are asking Director Nesvik to answer for a decision their office made.
My name is [your name] and I'm calling from [your city and state]. Brian R. Nesvik, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, signed the decision on Support federal protection for two rare Kern Canyon salamanders. I'm asking that office to answer for it publicly. Please record that I called and tell me what the office intends to do.
Official channels only, about this decision. No personal phone numbers, no home addresses, no personal social accounts, and nothing abusive. The point is to make the office answer, and an abusive call is the one thing that lets it off the hook.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
Protective action worth supporting
Two salamander species found only in Kern County could gain endangered species protections and critical habitat designation.
What’s at risk
If we stay silent
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are reopening the comment period on our October 18, 2022, proposed rule (2022 proposed rule), and November 21, 2023, revised proposed rule (2023 revised proposed rule) to list the Kern Canyon slender salamander (Batrachoseps simatus) and the relictual slender salamander (Batrachoseps relictus) under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act), to designate critical habitat for both species, and to issue a rule under section 4(d) of the Act for the Kern Canyon slender salamander. This action will allow all interested parties an additional opportunity to co…
The groups on this fight
One group is in on this fight
In on this fight means a link on this decision itself: the group's own regulations.gov comment on it, or a case filed over it naming the group. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Center for Biological Diversity
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on September 2, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
Brian R. Nesvik
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Where the notice says so
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
In court on this ground
This fight isn’t bound to a land unit in PLAN’s record yet, so there are no court cases to show for its ground.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
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