Notice of Availability of a Draft Recovery Plan for Anthony's Riversnail for Review and Comment

Résumé

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the availability for public review of a technical/agency draft recovery plan for Anthony's riversnail (Athearnia anthonyi). This rare freshwater snail currently has a very fragmented, relict distribution but historically was once fairly widespread in the Tennessee River system, where it was associated with shoal areas in the main stem of the Tennessee River and lower reaches of some of its tributaries in eastern Tennessee, northern Alabama, and northwestern Georgia. Many of the historic occurrences of the species have been lost as a result of impoundments and the general deterioration of water quality from siltation and other pollutants contributed by past mining activities, poor land-use practices, and waste discharges. Only two populations of Anthony's riversnail are known to survive--one in the Tennessee River in Jackson County, Alabama, and Marion County, Tennessee, extending into the lower Sequatchie River, Marion County, Tennessee; and one that is restricted to the lower reaches of Limestone Creek, Limestone County, Alabama. The potential for degradation of the water and substratum quality in the two areas where Anthony's