The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service isn’t yet convinced the “very rare ” warrants protection as a threatened or endangered species.
“We determined that a more in-depth examination of the status of the species is justified,” the Fish and Wildlife service stated Tuesday.
The monkeyflower, scientifically known as Mimulus gemmiparus, is known to exist in only seven locations in the Colorados foothills and mountains, including the Arapaho-Roosevelt and the Pike-San Isabel national forests, as well as Rocky Mountain National Park.
One of the locations, however, might have been irreparably altered by the Hayman fire in 2002.
The monkeyflower, an annual, does not produce seeds and depends on moist soils to hide among ferns and mosses along streams or in spots where underground aquifers seep to the surface.
But, despite its name, it seldom produces the “characteristic little monkey-faced flowers,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Calling the flower the U.S. Forest Service said trail maintenance and inattentive hikers are threats to the plant.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said petitioners seeking federal protections for the plant also cited wildfire and a warmer, drier climate.
Three outcomes are possible: federal protection, no protection or protections that are warranted but precluded by the agency’s higher priorities.
Public comments will be accepted until Oct. 29.
