Endangered species listing could help save Eastern hellbenders in Appalachian streams

By Kayla Masterman

The Eastern hellbender is an aquatic salamander found in Appalachian streams that can grow up to two feet long and could soon be listed as an endangered species. On Dec. 12, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposal to classify the Eastern hellbender, the largest aquatic salamander in North America, as endangered. This classification would heighten protections for the species and mandate that federal agencies work with the service to ensure conservation efforts.

The Endangered Species Act prohibits the “take” of the species listed as endangered. The law defines “take” as the harming, capturing or killing of a listed species, including damaging its critical habitat. A 60-day public comment period for the proposal ends on Feb. 11.

The Eastern hellbender dwells in the flowing streams of Appalachia. Adult hellbenders can weigh more than 3 pounds. They inhabit areas from southern New York to northern Georgia and can live for at least 30 years. 

These large salamanders have a flattened head and body, four short legs, beady eyes and a long, paddle-like tail. They typically have a grayish or reddish-brown coloration, and the sides of their bodies feature folds of skin that help with breathing.

The hellbender primarily feeds on crayfish and fish. However, they occasionally eat insects, tadpoles and even other hellbenders, including their eggs.

Hellbenders breed in water, primarily in September and October. Females deposit the eggs and the males create a saucer-shaped nest by moving gravel and then fertilize 200 to 400 eggs. Males then chase away the females and remain inside the nest to protect the eggs until they hatch in November.

The Eastern hellbender helps keep the ecosystem balanced, according to Michael Gangloff, professor of freshwater conservation biology at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C.

“They require clean water and stable, clean substrates, so they are an excellent indicator of water quality,” he says. “We know that if our rivers and streams have hellbenders, they are probably pretty healthy streams.” 

Clean water is important because hellbenders breathe through their skin, which contains numerous folds to increase oxygen absorption. 

The bigger picture and issue that is driving the hellbenders toward the endangered species list is that their range has declined and been declining for well over 100 years, according to Gangloff. 

“There’s a large part of the Ohio basin that does not support hellbenders anymore and a lot of streams in the southern edge of their range in places like Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have lost populations,” Gangloff says. 

He explains that “Western North Carolina still has a pretty good core of relatively large populations,” however, “it remains to be seen how stable they are.” 

“Perhaps it’s good timing this petition is occurring now. If there is evidence of significant decline, the Fish and Wildlife will act on that,” he says.  

According to the North Carolina Wildlife Rescues Commission, hellbenders disappear when waterways become overloaded with silt or chemicals. For hellbenders to survive, the water must be highly oxygenated. 

“One of their evolutionary adaptations is to exist in moist and fully aquatic environments, and their skin allows them to breathe,” says Ridge Graham, North Carolina program manager for Appalachian Voices, the organization that produces this publication. 

He explained that the colder the water is, the more oxygen it can hold. 

“There are some places where it’s just getting warmer, and the oxygen potential is lost in the water,” Graham says.

“When there’s a federally listed endangered species, whenever there’s a big construction project like a dam or a pipeline or anything that impacts the water where the species is, it puts up a check on that development, and they have to prove that it won’t impact the species,” Graham says.  

Many states have categorized the hellbender as a species they are concerned about. According to the Virginia Herpetological Society, hellbenders are classified as endangered at the state level in Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio and listed as rare in Georgia. In New York, North Carolina and Virginia they are noted as “of special concern” or “species of concern,” and they are on the watch list in Missouri and considered in need of management in Tennessee.

Hannah Woodburn is High Country watershed outreach coordinator with the Watauga Riverkeeper and MountainTrue, a Western North Carolina environmental organization. She explained that hellbender populations have declined up to 70% in the last decade. 

“It’s one of those things where the decline has happened so quickly and we actually don’t have the answers as to why,” Woodburn says. 

Compounding effects are causing the species to decline, including high amounts of sedimentation in the streams, loss of habitat, and changes in water quality and stream temperatures. A July 2021 press release from the Center for Biological Diversity reported that hellbender populations are decreasing because of factors like dams, water pollution from industry and farming, deforestation, oil and gas development, residential growth and mining.

The federal endangered listing would allow more funding for research and protection for the species, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, according to Woodburn. She explained that Andy Hill, High Country regional director and Watauga Riverkeeper, was helping with search and rescue efforts and saw dozens of dead hellbenders.

Hellbenders were displaced hundreds of feet from the river in floodplains and desiccated before they could return to the river due to the historic floods. 

“We saw a lot of loss with that event pretty much all over these watersheds, and with that, we were able to submit additional comments [to the USFWS] because this is such a critical point in history with climate change and all those other stressors, and we are seeing it real time,” Woodburn says. 

Helene changed what Woodburn and her team thought they knew about the reproducing hellbender populations. They have an idea but not any physical data of whether the hellbender’s living sites have shifted. 

“It completely changed the populations we knew were reproducing,” Woodburn says. “So this spring will be really telling as far as monitoring and understanding.”

Woodburn explained that anecdotes, pictures and experience out in the field and along the river give cause for concern. When trees and plants along the riverbank are lost, the temperature of the water rises and it is not able to hold as much oxygen. It is also easier for pollutants like large amounts of sediment to seep into the water, which affects the water quality. 

There’s been an effort from Appalachian State and the MountainTrue Watauga Riverkeeper to rehabilitate hellbender habitats. 

“We have been working with different partners like Center for Biological Diversity and Endangered Species Coalition,” Woodburn says. “Those kinds of bigger partnerships have contributed to a great effort in Boone to acknowledge aquatic ecosystems and their value in what they bring to our community and our culture.”

Environmental groups first petitioned federal regulators to list the Eastern hellbender as an endangered species in 2010. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife issued a finding on the 2010 request in 2019 and declined to list the Eastern hellbender as endangered. 

MountainTrue recently removed two dams on the Watauga River, one in 2021 and one in 2024, and a part of their project funds went toward hellbender monitoring. 

Maintaining the river’s health for these creatures, in turn, will benefit humans inhabiting the area. 

“Theoretically, if we are protecting a species that needs clean water and habitat, then that should benefit us,” Gangloff said.  

At its Jan. 8 meeting, the Boone Town Council voiced its support for the listing, stating in a resolution that “the impacts of Hurricane Helene have damaged the natural environment across Appalachia, destroying and polluting essential habitats, which will require governmental investment and intervention to repair and stabilize.” 

The Boone Town Council commented that it has consistently sought to protect habitat for the wildlife in the town. Its Jan. 8 meeting resolution states, “the Eastern hellbender has become a symbol for the Town, region and community, representing our identity, resilience and commitment to environmental action.” 

“It is such a unique and unusual animal and the people who are lucky enough to see one in the wild, they never forget it,” Gangloff says.

Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov.