HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Federal officials are proposing protection for plants found in north Alabama and northwest Georgia.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants endangered species protection for the whorled sunflower, which grows in Cherokee County and Floyd County, Ga. The plant is found along roads, fields, railroad beds and woods borders.
The agency also is proposing fleshy-fruit gladegrass get special protection. It grows mainly in the winter in Lawrence and Morgan counties in the Tennessee Valley.
The special designation wouldn't limit what private landowners can do, but it would affect activities performed or funded by the federal government.
The government will schedule a public hearing if someone asks for one by Sept. 16.