It was a close call. On March 3, 2010, the California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-2 that listing of the California Tiger Salamander ("CTS") pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act was warranted. The Commission was under court order to accept the listing petition, which it did declaring CTS a candidate species just over a year ago. Now that listing has been determined to be warranted, the listing process ensues. The actual listing action for CTS will not be finalized for months, at a minimum. The state action is in addition to the existing protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Under federal law, the CTS is protected under three separate listing actions—one for the Sonoma population, one for the Santa Barbara population and one for the remainder of the state under the central California population.
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