Endangered Floral and Fauna Species
Cherokee County is the main landing place for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. There is a Cherokee Indian reservation with a casino that is protected land as well as the Nantahala National Forest. The endangered species list for Cherokee County includes plants and animals (vertebrate, invertebrate, vascular and nonvascular) that are considered endangered or threatened. The bog turtle, a threatened species, is a turtle which is a very significant animal in Cherokee spirituality. The list of animals shows the commitment that cherokee nations have to acknowledge, educate and protect the endangered species of the Southeast (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: 2018).
- Endangered Species, Threatened Species,Federal Species of Concern, and Candidate Species. 2018. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. https://www.fws.gov/raleigh/species/cntylist/cherokee.html, accessed November 10, 2019.
- Merry, Mitch. Bog Turtle. Endangered Species Coalition. https://www.endangered.org/animal/bog-turtle/, accessed November 15, 2019.