CONSOLIDATION

List of Wildlife Species at Risk (referral back to COSEWIC) Order

SI/2021-58

Current to June 20, 2022



OFFICIAL STATUS OF CONSOLIDATIONS Subsections 31(1) and (3) of the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, in force on June 1, 2009, provide as follows: Published consolidation is evidence

31 (1) Every copy of a consolidated statute or consolidated regulation published by the Minister under this Act in either print or electronic form is evidence of that statute or regulation and of its contents and every copy purporting to be published by the Minister is deemed to be so published, unless the contrary is shown. ... Inconsistencies in regulations

(3) In the event of an inconsistency between a consolidated regulation published by the Minister under this Act and the original regulation or a subsequent amendment as registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council under the Statutory Instruments Act, the original regulation or amendment prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

LAYOUT The notes that appeared in the left or right margins are now in boldface text directly above the provisions to which they relate. They form no part of the enactment, but are inserted for convenience of reference only.

NOTE This consolidation is current to June 20, 2022. Any amendments that were not in force as of June 20, 2022 are set out at the end of this document under the heading “Amendments Not in Force”.

Current to June 20, 2022

TABLE OF PROVISIONS List of Wildlife Species at Risk (referral back to COSEWIC) Order

ANNEX

Statement Setting Out the Reasons for Referring the Assessment of the Rusty Cord-moss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) Back to COSEWIC

Current to June 20, 2022

ii

Registration SI/2021-58 September 1, 2021

SPECIES AT RISK ACT List of Wildlife Species at Risk (referral back to COSEWIC) Order P.C. 2021-884

August 11, 2021

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, pursuant to subsections 27(1.1) and (1.2) of the Species at Risk Acta, (a) refers the assessment of the status of the Rusty

Cord-moss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) back to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) for further information or consideration; and (b) approves that the Minister of the Environment include in the public registry established under section 120 of that Act the statement that is attached as the annex to this Order and that sets out the reasons for the referral back to COSEWIC.

a

S.C. 2002, c. 29

Current to June 20, 2022

List of Wildlife Species at Risk (referral back to COSEWIC) Order ANNEX Statement Setting Out the Reasons for Referring the Assessment of the Rusty Cord-moss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) Back to COSEWIC

ANNEX

Statement Setting Out the Reasons for Referring the Assessment of the Rusty Cordmoss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) Back to COSEWIC The Rusty Cord-moss was initially assessed as endangered by COSEWIC. In 2006, the species was added to Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act with that status. In April 2017, the species was reassessed by COSEWIC as special concern. To explain this change in status, the scientific body stated in its assessment that, as a result of field and collection research, the known distribution and abundance of the moss had increased significantly since the species was first assessed by COSEWIC in 2004, resulting in decreased extinction risk. The 2017 assessment further indicated that the species is now known to occur in both British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Following receipt of the 2017 assessment, the species was included in the proposed Order Amending Schedule 1 to the Species at Risk Act that was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on February 20, 2021, for a 30-day comment period. During that period, the Department of the Environment received comments from a species expert who raised a number of concerns with the proposed reclassification.

The expert shared research reports, which included surveys from 2018 to 2020. The reports describe significant changes since the 2017 COSEWIC status report, including important population declines at two of the species’ largest known occurrences in Canada (by 93–96% near Riske Creek, British Columbia, and by 100% at White Lake, British Columbia). As the main drivers of these changes, the expert identified a landscape-scale fire in 2017, which passed across three of the known sites at Riske Creek, and an invasive exotic grass growth in a number of habitats at White Lake. In addition, although the species was listed as present on many sites in British Columbia in 2017, it was not observed during the surveys that were conducted from 2018 to 2020 and could be, according to the expert, extirpated on these sites.

Current to June 20, 2022

List of Wildlife Species at Risk (referral back to COSEWIC) Order ANNEX Statement Setting Out the Reasons for Referring the Assessment of the Rusty Cord-moss (Entosthodon rubiginosus) Back to COSEWIC

Based on this new information, the Minister of the Environment is of the view that a more thorough analysis of this new evidence and all other available information should be undertaken to determine whether the current classification of the Rusty Cord-moss as endangered is appropriate or whether the species should be assessed and reclassified as special concern. Therefore, the matter is referred back to COSEWIC for further information or consideration. The Department of the Environment is committed to working with COSEWIC on this matter.

Current to June 20, 2022

