ASHEVILLE, N.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached an agreement today that requires the agency to make decisions on protecting two imperiled southern species under the Endangered Species Act. The Service must decide whether to protect southern bog turtles and roughhead shiners by October 2028.

“These tiny turtles and rare fish will go extinct without endangered species protections, but this agreement tosses them a lifeline,” said Will Harlan, southeast director at the Center. “The powerful protections of the Endangered Species Act are these animals’ best bet for surviving an uncertain future.”

Bog turtles are North America’s smallest turtles, measuring about the length of a crayon. They’re also one of the world’s most threatened turtles, as their southern population has declined by 50% since 2000 — and fewer than 2,000 individual southern bog turtles are left.

In response to the Center’s petition the Service announced in October 2022 that southern bog turtles may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency was required to decide more than a year ago whether to officially list the turtles.

Bog turtles live in mountain wetlands that are being drained for development. Only 500 acres of mountain bog habitat remain across the turtles’ entire southern range, and many of the bog turtles’ remaining wetlands have recently lost federal and state protections. Only 14 viable sites are left across the turtles’ range in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

Today’s agreement also finalizes a date for determining protections for roughhead shiners — olive minnows named for the bumps on their head. They’re found only in the upper James River watershed in western Virginia, where they’re being displaced by invasive fish.

The shiner was first identified as threatened 50 years ago and was put on a waiting list for Endangered Species Act protection in 1994. The Center petitioned for protection for the fish in 2022, and in March 2023 the Service announced that the species may warrant protections. A decision on whether to list the shiner was due two years ago.

“Protecting turtles and fish is also good for people because our drinking water depends on clean rivers and wetlands where these species live,” said Harlan. “The Southeast is experiencing a freshwater extinction crisis and these imperiled animals can’t get protections soon enough.”

The southeastern United States is a global hotspot of diversity for fish, turtles and other freshwater species. More than 40% of the country’s fish and turtles are at risk of extinction, primarily because of habitat loss and development, pollution, poaching, invasive species and climate change.