Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Threatened Status for Virginia Sneezeweed (Helenium virginicum), a Plant From the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or we) determines Helenium virginicum (Virginia sneezeweed) to be a threatened species, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). This rare plant is restricted to seasonally inundated sinkhole ponds and meadows in Augusta and Rockingham counties, Virginia. Five of the 25 known extant populations are on United States Forest Service land; the others are on private land. This perennial plant is threatened by residential development, incompatible agricultural practices, filling and ditching of its wetland habitat and other disruptions of its habitat and the hydrology that maintains it. Helenium virginicum is listed as endangered by the State of Virginia. This rule implements Federal protection and recovery provisions afforded by the Act for this species.