ESA Listing Flashcards
ESA Listing Classifications
Proposed
Candidate
Threatened Endangered
• Proposed
A species for which a petition has been filed requesting consideration for
Threatened or Endangered status listing
Candidate
Species for which there is sufficient biological information to warrant to
consideration as endangered or threatened under ESA, but for which
development of a proposed listing regulation has not yet been done.
Threatened
Any species that is likely to become an endangered species within the
foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range
Endangered
Any species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant
portion of its range.
The Petition Process: Initial review; WHO?
Any interested person may petition the Secretary of the Interior to list / delist a
species
The Petition Process: Initial review
Petition Received
v
90 Day Review
v
“Not Substantial”
Information
OR
“Substantial” Information:
listing “may be warranted”
V
12 Month
Status Review
Petitions
formal requests to list
species that require published findings.
The Petition Process: After the 12 Month Review
Within one year of receiving petition, a
decision MUST be made determining
whether the proposal is “warranted” or “not warranted” (1982 amendment to the
ESA)
12 Month Review
Data Does NOT
support need
to list
“Listing is Warranted”
“Warranted But
Precluded”
“Listing is Warranted”
Data Supports
Need to List
“Warranted But
Precluded”
Data Supports
Need to List but
other species
are higher priority
candidate status
reviewed once per year until the
listing is declared warranted or
not
The Ozark hellbender ESA history
became a
candidate in 2001 (L6)but level
was elevated in 2005 (L3).
“Warranted “
Proposed Rule
documents why FWS/NMFS proposes to list as Threatened or Endangered.
Comment period open for public –
Finding –
Challenge
If Listing is
Warranted
60 Day Comment Period
Input from public, etc.
Peer Review
(3 independent reviewers)
V
Decision Not to List
OR
Decision to List
Publish Rule in
Federal Register“warranted”
60 day public comment
period
Hold hearing if requested w/in
45 days of announcement
“warranted” Peer Review
“..decisions must be made on the best scientific or commercial data available”
At least 3 independent
reviewers
Comment period
open for public –
public, corporations, and scientists comment on information and decision
Finding
USFWS/ NMFS publishes the final rule to list or not list after considering all the information at hand.
Challenge
Public can challenge listing in court and decision can be reversed IF listing was “arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion”
Time Required to List a Species
On average it took 13.8 years to list species before 1982 but
only 4.3 years after 1982
In 1990, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior Inspector General
documented that at least 34 species went extinct while waiting
to be listed between 1980 and 1990.
“…most species, subspecies, and populations [protected
under the ESA] are not receiving protection until their total
population size and number of populations are critically
low.” (Wilcove et al. 1993)
Losses During the Listing Process
Ochlockonee Moccasinshell (Medionidus simpsonianus)
Valdina Farms Salamander (Eurycea
troglodytes)
Losses During Delays in the Listing
Process
At least 42 species have become extinct during delays in the listing process. (Greenwald and Suckling 2005) • view th
What are the Causes for Delays?!
The sheer number of
proposed listings/
Backlog
Lack of policies requiring agencies to systematically list species. -In a 1978 audit, 41 petitions had been lost -Exacerbates the backlog
Politics
Politics?
Listing process is not immune to political climate
Looking Ahead Based on the Current
Rate of Listings
In the beginning….Congress assumed that all
imperiled plants and animals would be listed
(estimated by USFWS in 1975 to be 7,000 species)
• Between 1979 and 2003 only 1,229 were listed
(average of 41 per year)
Nature Serve is an organization that uses more
quantitative thresholds for evaluating risk of
extinction, and currently identifies 7128 critically
imperiled (G1) or imperiled species (G2) in the U.S.
-At a rate of 41 species/year, it would take about
173 years to list all of these
What Exactly Does “Recovery”
Mean?
It must mean “Not Endangered or
Threatened”
Endangered Species
A species that is in danger of
extinction throughout all or a
significant portion of its range
Recovered Species:
a species in danger of extinction
throughout at most an insignificant
portion of its range…”
IUCN
IUCN
Extinct (EX)
No longer known to exist
Extinct in the wild (EW)
Only exists in captivity
Critically endangered (CR)
Extremely high risk
of going extinct.
Endangered (EN)
Risk of going extinct in wild.
Vulnerable (VU)
Vulnerable (VU)
Near threatened (NT)
NT
Least Concern (LC)
LC
IUCN Red List
• Criteria Based
A. Observable reduction in numbers of individuals • B. Total geographic area occupied by the species • C. Predicted decline in numbers of individuals. • D. Number of mature individuals currently alive • E. Probability the species will go extinct within a certain number of years.
