The Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) is a slimy, flat, brown salamander – and North America’s largest. With small eyes and a natural smirk, they have been one of the Southern Appalachians most endearing and iconic creatures. Hellbenders can grow to over two feet in length, weigh more than five pounds, and live more than 30 years. Despite their size and predatory behavior, Eastern Hellbender populations have been declining throughout the Appalachian mountains since the early 1970’s, with almost 80% of the eastern hellbender population having disappeared in the past century. This is why the recent proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list the hellbender as an endangered species is good news. With this designation, the hellbender can receive the protection it needs to rebound. The proposal comes with a 60 day comment period, which began on Dec. 13 and will run through Feb. 10, 2025 and The New River Conservancy (NRC) is asking you to support this designation because what is good for the Hellbender is good for the New River and the communities that rely on it.
Eastern Hellbenders are an aquatic species that prefer clear, fast-flowing, well-oxygenated streams and rivers. Because of Hellbenders’ preference for clean streams and rivers, and their extreme sensitivity to silt, sedimentation and water pollution, they are considered biological indicators of good water quality. As the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) puts it, “if there is a healthy hellbender population in a stream, there is clean water.”
The decline of the Eastern Hellbender can largely be attributed to the degradation of stream quality, which is caused by the damming of rivers, water pollution, and siltation of streams. Dams eliminate free-flowing sections of rivers and produce low oxygen conditions on the river bottom. Toxic chemicals, such as untreated sewage and chemical runoff, along with the loss of riverbank vegetation negatively impact water quality and the health of hellbenders.
William Hopkins, professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, suspected the hellbenders’ plight had connections with environmental changes engineered by humans. In an article published in June of 2023, Hopkins says “This is an animal that has been resilient over millions and millions of years, and something that we’re doing to the planet is severe enough that it’s causing them to disappear, and disappear quickly,”
In most states within their range, hellbenders are listed as rare, threatened, or endangered. Within the New River Watershed, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia Departments of Wildlife Resources have all listed the Eastern Hellbender as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in their Wildlife Action Plans. Andrew Downs, executive director for NRC brings into focus the importance of protecting this special amphibian: “Not only does the presence of hellbenders indicate the rivers we rely on for drinking water are clean, but this sometimes strange looking and beautiful creature is part of the identity of our region. If we fail to protect it, we fail to protect a part of ourselves and the character that makes our Appalachian communities unique”.
The New River Conservancy is urging citizens throughout the watershed and beyond to comment their support for the endangered species designation before the deadline of Feb. 11, 2025. Visit https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FWS-R3-ES-2024-0152-0001 to comment, or visit newriverconservancy.org and click on the Hellbender button at the top of the page.
