LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing that 224 river miles be protected as critical habitat for five endangered fish species in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Officials said Tuesday the yellowcheek darter in Arkansas; the Cumberland darter in Kentucky and Tennessee; the rush darter in Alabama, the chucky madtom in Tennessee and the laurel dace in Tennessee are endangered by habitat loss and pollution.
The yellowcheek darter is found in the Little Red River and its tributaries in Cleburne, Searcy, Stone and Van Buren counties in Arkansas. Officials say its original habitat disappeared after a dam on the Little Red River was built to create Greers Ferry Reservoir.
The fish also is threatened by natural gas development, animal feedlot pollution, cattle grazing, clear-cut logging and gravel mining.
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