View Rule

We will make a listing determination regarding the Platanthera integrilabia (white fringeless orchid), pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This plant occurs in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and is currently a candidate for listing under the ESA. We are required to designate critical habitat, to the maximum extent prudent and determinable, concurrent with a listing determination for the species. However, we are not proposing critical habitat for white fringeless orchid. We have determined that designation of critical habitat would not be prudent for this species, because it would increase the likelihood and severity of illegal collection of white fringeless orchid and thereby make enforcement of take prohibitions more difficult. This threat outweighs the benefits of critical habitat designation.