On December 28th 1973, President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law.
The ESA as it is commonly referred to, has become one of the most important environmental
laws in history.
In his signing statement, President Nixon wrote:
“Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal
life with which our country has been blessed.
It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike,
and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans.”
Congress recognized that many species of fish, wildlife and plants had gone extinct and that
other species had been depleted to point that they were in danger of becoming extinct.
When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, it recognized that our rich natural heritage
is of “esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our
Nation and its people.”
The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon
which they depend.
It is those ecosystems and their habitats that provide the necessary resources for endangered
and threatened species to survive, and to be able to produce young for future generations.
Under the ESA, species may be listed as either endangered or threatened.
“Endangered” means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant
portion of its range.
“Threatened” means a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable
future.
The ESA is jointly administered by the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and the Department of Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has primary responsibility for terrestrial species such
as birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants and invertebrates, as well as for freshwater
species, for example, fish and mussels.
The National Marine Fisheries Service has primary responsibility for marine species
such as whales and certain fish including salmon which spend a substantial part of their
life cycle in the oceans.
As of November 2012, there were 1,434 species of plants and animals protected as threatened
or endangered in the United States and its territories.
There were also 618 foreign species protected under the ESA.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologists take the lead in recovering and conserving our
Nation's imperiled species by fostering partnerships, employing scientific excellence, and developing
a workforce of conservation leaders.
As we work in partnership with others, our two major goals are to Protect endangered
and threatened species, and then pursue their recovery; and Conserve candidate species and
species-at-risk so that listing under the ESA is not necessary.
There is an office in every state across the country with staff working to conserve endangered
species and the habitat they depend on.
The ESA is divided into eighteen sections that work together to prevent species from
going extinct by helping to stabilize populations, reduce the threats to their survival, and
ultimately help species recover to the point that they no longer require federal protection.
The sections work together by providing: a framework for identifying those species in
need of the ESA’s protection, requirements to plan for and implement recovery actions,
tools to work together with our partners and the American public to help conserve species
and the habitat they depend on, and a process to identify recovery accomplishments leading
to the point where a species can be removed from the list.
In this overview we will briefly discuss some of the sections that describe the implementation
of the ESA within the United States and its territories.
Those Sections are Section 4: Listing, Critical Habitat, Recovery, and Delisting and Monitoring,
Section 6: Cooperation with States and Territories, Section 7: Federal Agency Actions and Consultations,
Section 9: Prohibited Acts, and, Section 10: Permits (and other exceptions to Prohibited
Acts).
Section 4 is the most extensive part of the Endangered Species Act.
It covers a number of activities, including how species in need of the ESA’s protection
are identified and prioritized, the actions needed to recover those species and conserve
their habitat, and the process of reaching those recovery goals that allow for a species
removal from federal protection.
In order to evaluate whether a plant or animal should be listed as endangered or threatened,
five factors are considered using the best scientific and commercial information available.
These are: The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat
or range; Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
Disease or predation; The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; Other natural or manmade
factors affecting its continued existence.
When a species is listed under the Endangered Species Act, the Service must consider whether
there are areas of habitat believed to be essential to the species' conservation.
Identifying critical habitat enhances the conservation of listed species by providing
important information about the actual and potential distribution of a species, and where
opportunities may exist to work with our partners.
Critical habitat does not affect private landowners who are undertaking activities that do not
require Federal permits, funding, or approval.
As an initial step toward guiding an endangered or threatened species back to health, a recovery
plan is developed.
The recovery plan outlines the path and actions required to restore and secure self-sustaining
wild populations.
The implementation of recovery actions for a listed species occurs in three phases: Reducing
or eliminating threats; Restoring or maintaining self-sustaining wild populations; and Removing
species from the lists because they have recovered to the point where they no longer need the
protection of the Endangered Species Act.
The single most important conservation measure for many threatened and endangered species
is habitat conservation or restoration.
For other species, captive breeding programs may be required followed by reintroduction
into the wild.
Such efforts can be used to help increase population numbers.
Successful examples of this strategy include the recovery programs for California condors
and black-footed ferrets.
Section 6, recognizes the key role that states play in conserving and recovering our endangered
and threatened native wildlife and plants.
The Section 6 program, generally referred to as “Grants to States” provides funding
to states and territories for species and habitat conservation actions on non-Federal
lands.
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act requires federal agencies to use their authorities
to carry out conservation programs to benefit endangered and threatened species.
Federal agencies are also required to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the
National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry
out will not be likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species, or destroy
or adversely modify designated critical habitat.
As a result, Federal agencies have a unique opportunity and obligation to assist recovery
implementation by addressing threats that result from their programs and actions.
Once a species is listed, Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act makes it unlawful for
any person – including private and public entities – to “take” individuals of
an endangered animal species.
“The term “take” means to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture,
or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct.”
Section 10 of the ESA is designed to regulate a wide range of activities that affect endangered
and threatened plants and animals and the habitats upon which they depend.
Under Section 10, the Service can issue permits that allow limited take of listed species
under very specific conditions for scientific purposes, or to otherwise enhance the propagation
or survival of a species.
Endangered species recovery is complex and difficult work, often requiring substantial
time and resources.
Just as it takes a long time for species to reach the brink of extinction, it takes a
long time to bring them back.
Many of the endangered species that have fully recovered were the original species listed
under federal protection 40 years ago.
For four decades, the Endangered Species Act has provided a critical safety net for fish,
wildlife and plants that has prevented the extinction of hundreds of imperiled species,
stabilized populations of listed species, as well as recovered many others, and conserved
the habitats upon which they depend.
Today, hundreds of species are stable or improving thanks to management actions of federal agencies,
state and local governments, conservation organizations and private citizens.
For more information about the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Program, visit
our website at: http://endangered.fws.gov