
Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fish Passage Program is working to reconnect watersheds to benefit both wildlife and people. Erosion into streams has been reduced, fish passage fish passageįish passage is the ability of fish or other aquatic species to move freely throughout their life to find food, reproduce, and complete their natural migration cycles. Millions of barriers to fish passage across the country are fragmenting habitat and leading to species declines. Eglin’s work in improving darter habitat and monitoring populations since its listing as an endangered species in 1973 has been the driving force behind its recovery. What role did Eglin Air Force Base play in the recovery?Įglin Air Force Base has an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan that includes specific goals and objectives to improve Okaloosa darter habitat. The darter no longer qualifies for either category due to its recovery. Under the Endangered Species Act, endangered species are at imminent risk of becoming extinct, while threatened species are likely to become endangered at a foreseeable point in time. The Service is delisting the darter, removing it from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. More than 90% of all Okaloosa darters are found on Eglin Air Force Base. Okaloosa darters live only in six stream systems in Walton and Okaloosa counties in the panhandle of Florida. Male darters have an orange band along the edges of their first fin on the top of the body. This darter species has a green-yellow to red-brown coloration with five to eight brown spots along the side of its body. The Okaloosa darter is a small fish that grows to about 2 inches long.
