The Colorado hookless cactus has officially been removed from the federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Multiple partners, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, and the Denver Botanic Gardens, were involved in the recovery. The decision to remove the cactus comes from the best available scientific and commercial information reflecting improved scientific data on the species.
The ongoing efforts to monitor and conserve the cactus were vital to the species’ recovery, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will continue working with the partners to monitor the species and ensure its long-term stability.
The Colorado hookless cactus is native to the Colorado and Gunnison River basins and their tributary canyons in the western portion of Colorado. It thrives in semi-arid, high elevation desert environments, blooming distinctive pink flowers in late April and early May.
The species was first listened as threatened in 1979. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that threats to the species have been either sufficiently reduced or eliminated to the point where the species no longer fits as threatened or endangered under the act.
According to the Denver Botanic Gardens, a variety of factors threatened the Colorado hookless cactus including the installation and maintenance of huge pipelines, trampling and browsing from livestock, weeds, and people collecting the plants from the wild.
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