The eastern hellbender salamander, an iconic species in the Appalachian Mountains, was expected to receive endangered status from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the end of 2025 but has been deferred to a long-term actions list. Conservationists worry that delays, exacerbated by climate change and recent natural disasters, threaten the amphibian's survival. Local communities in North Carolina are pushing for action amid bipartisan support.
The hellbender, a salamander known for its iridescent marbled gold and brown appearance underwater, can grow over 2 feet long and live up to 30 years. It inhabits cold, high-mountain streams under large flat rocks, requiring water temperatures between 55 and 63 degrees Fahrenheit and pristine conditions to breathe through its skin. Nicknamed the mudpuppy, snot otter, and mud devil, the species has cultural significance in Appalachia, inspiring beers, festivals, and even a baseball team.
Andy Hill, the Watauga riverkeeper for environmental nonprofit MountainTrue in western North Carolina, describes encountering one as transformative. “The first time that I saw one in real life, in the Watauga River, it changed me,” Hill said. “They’re kind of otherworldly looking.” As a climate bellwether, hellbenders face risks from warming streams due to climate change, alongside pollution, habitat loss, and illegal pet trade collection. Their lineage dates back 160 million years, but 60 percent of eastern populations are now in decline, with only 12 percent stable.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service anticipated designating the eastern hellbender as endangered by late 2025, yet no decision materialized. Instead, it joined a “long-term actions” list, with no species listed since President Donald Trump's second term began. The Center for Biological Diversity, advocating since 2010, filed a lawsuit to compel action. “It’s basically just a bureaucratic delay tactic that doesn’t put a definite date on enacting protection for any endangered species,” said Tierra Curry, the group's endangered species co-director.
In 2019, the first Trump administration rejected listing, deeming captive breeding sufficient, a view conservationists dispute. Several states, including North Carolina, classify it as a species of concern. Federal protection could safeguard broader ecosystems, benefiting native fish, mussels, trout, recreation, tourism, and the economy, according to Hill.
Hurricane Helene worsened the plight, with survivors finding hellbenders displaced and dying, some populations dropping by two-thirds. Researchers at Appalachian State University are assessing impacts. In Boone, North Carolina, Mayor Dalton George collaborated with Hill on a resolution urging federal protection, followed by a hellbender mural. The effort garnered bipartisan backing. “That’s what’s frustrating to me as a leader,” George said, noting community unity across political lines. He added, “A lot of people see themselves in the story of the hellbender,” linking the species' endurance to regional anxieties about displacement.
