HADLEY, MA

In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed Virginia sneezeweed (Helenium virginicum) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which defines that a species is threatened if it is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.

Virginia Sneezeweed--a perennial plant and a member of the aster family found only in Augusta and Rockingham counties in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley-- is dependent on specialized wetland habitats that are threatened by encroaching residential development, incompatible agricultural practices, filling and ditching, and other human-caused changes in water flow. Biologists have documented 25 existing populations of the species. Five populations are within the George Washington and Jefferson national forests, where they are protected by the U.S. Forest Service.