Most of the public domain lands with potential Zuni fleabane habitat are easily accessible and have been surveyed by federal and state botanists. There have been extensive field surveys in the Zuni and Datil/Sawtooth mountains of New Mexico (Fletcher 1978, Sabo 1982, Sivinski and Lightfoot 1991, Sivinski and Tonne 1999). Potentially suitable habitat on privately owned lands have not, and may never be surveyed. The Acoma and Zuni reservations contain potential habitat, but are generally not accessible to most botanists for field surveys. These tribes have no active programs to look for threatened or endangered plant species. The Navajo Nation employs a botanist and has sponsored Zuni fleabane surveys. Suitable habitat on the Fort Wingate military reservation have been partially surveyed for Zuni fleabane (Sivinski, unpublished field survey, 1995). Potential habitat on the Navajo Nation in the Chuska Mountains of New Mexico and Arizona have also been surveyed (Christie 2004; USFWS, 2005)

The USFWS completed a 5-year review on the Zuni Fleabane in 2005 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Zuni fleabane (Erigeron rhizomatus) 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. Albuquerque, NM. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). There is a memorandum that the species should be considered for delisting in 1994 or 1995 based on the finding of additional populations since the species was listed. Although additional populations of Zuni fleabane have been found since the recovery plan was finalized, the delisting criteria focuses on threats, especially uranium mining, and identifies the need for land use management within Zuni fleabane habitat to protect and conserve the species. Management plans are identified as being reliant upon information obtained through the study of Zuni fleabane habitat characteristics, ecology, and biology. No biological factors are identified as being threats to this species (USFWS, 2005). The Bureau of Land Management established an Area of Critical Environmental Concern on the single local population within its jurisdiction in the Datil/Sawtooth Mountains metapopulation. This Area of Critical Environmental Concern withdraws minerals from claim for as long as this special management area designation is upheld by Bureau of Land Management land use planning. No similar efforts to provide special management for occupied Zuni fleabane habitat have been made by the U.S. Forest Service (USFWS, 2005). The Navajo Nation recommends a 200 ft buffer zone in any development to avoid disturbance. This buffer may be more or less, depending on slope, size and nature of the project (Roth, 2001). A survey and status report of potential habitat and populations occurring on the Navajo Nation was completed in 2004 (Christie 2004, http://nnhp.navajofishandwildlife.org/). Erigeron rhizomatus is protected on the Navajo Nation and is listed as endangered on the Navajo Endangered Species List (Navajo Division of Natural Resources, Department of Fish & Wildlife. 2008. Navajo Endangered Species List. Window Rock, AZ. http://nnhp.navajofishandwildlife.org/)

The highest priority to facilitate recovery for Zuni fleabane is to revise the recovery plan. Threat assessments and recovery criteria should incorporate new information and clearly define recovery actions. Because the only significant potential threat to Zuni fleabane at this time is uranium mining, the revised recovery plan should contain objective, measurable criteria to alleviate this threat. Administrative actions by federal land management agencies to reduce the threats from mining activities will be necessary to fully recover the species (USFWS, 2005).

seed banking genetic studies propagation work additional surveys on private land