On January 14, 2025, a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity requested that the Goose Lake lamprey, Goose Lake tui chub, and Goose Lake sucker be listed as a threatened species or an endangered species and critical habitat be designated for this species under the Act.
On July 14, 2026, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published their 90-day finding on the petitions and determined that the listing of the Goose Lake fishes as threatened or endangered species may be warranted, along with the other petitioned actions.
The 90-day finding focused on habitat loss due to agricultural water diversions. “The petition presents credible information about potential negative population-level effects due to habitat loss from agricultural water diversions.”
Next Steps:
• USFWS will conduct a full status review (12-month finding) of the three Goose Lake species and potential threats to determine listing status. The Goose Lake species will be added to the USFWS’s national listing workplan (https://www.fws.gov/project/national-listing-workplan). Although this status review is called a “12-month finding” it could take 3-5 years for a full status review.
• The Gooselake Fishes Working group will reconvene to discuss these new actions and apply for funding to support updating the conservation plan and pushing back against this potential listing.
The 90-day review findings and supporting documents can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/ by searching for the following docket numbers:
Goose Lake sucker: FWS–R8–ES–2025–0016
Goose Lake tui chub: FWS–R8–ES–2025–0017
Goose Lake lamprey: FWS–R8–ES–2025–0018
For more information visit: https://lakecountywsc.com/gl-fishes-working-group
