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Endangered freshwater mussels granted federal protection
Fox News
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted protected status to longsolid and round hickorynut freshwater mussels as populations dwindle in the Eastern US
The primary cause is habitat damage from urban sprawl, farming, oil and gas development, pipelines and mining. Other factors include competition from nonnative mussels and rising stream temperatures linked to climate change.
"Both of these mussels have suffered proverbial deaths from a thousand cuts," said Gary Peeples, deputy supervisor of the agency's field office in Asheville, North Carolinahttps://www.foxnews.com/category/us/us-regions/southeast/north-carolina. "A lot of little things have added up."
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