TUCSON, AZ (AP) -
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will assess whether to grant federal protection to a rare snail found in southern Arizona.
The agency is seeking information on the biology, range, population trends and threats to the Sonoran talus snail. The information will be collected until Sept. 24 and used to determine whether to approve a petition for protection.
The small snail is known to live in seven mountain ranges in Pima and Santa Cruz counties and in Sonora, Mexico.
They are dormant for most of their three years of life, except during or after summer monsoon rains.
The Center for Biological Diversity contends in the June 2010 petition that a copper mine south of Tucson is threatening the snails.
The Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't expect issuing a finding on the snail until after 2016.
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