Frequently Asked Questions
Louisiana Ecological Services
Credit: USFWS
- What is the US Fish and Wildlife Service?
- How many threatened and endangered species are there in Louisiana's and which ones are they?
- What is the office's authority under the Endangered Species Act?
- Why protect endangered species?
- What are Fish and Wildlife Service trust resources?
- Why save wetlands?
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Threatened and Endangered Species
The number and species vary when some are added to Louisiana's list and others removed. Click here for the latest updated list.
Authority
Our office works under Section 4 Determination of an Endangered and Threatened Species; Section 7 Interagency Cooperation; Section 9 Prohibited Acts; and Section 10 Exceptions.
Endangered Species Protection
Congress answered these two questions in the preamble to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, recognizing that endangered species of fish, wildlife and plants "are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people." In this statement, Congress summarized concerns regarding endangered species.
Trust Resources
Trust resources are species that move across state lines, such as threatened and endangered species, anadromous fish and migratory birds.
Wetlands
Marshes, swamps, potholes and other wetlands provide homes for countless species of fish, wildlife and plants. Wetlands help control floods, recharge groundwater and cleanse pollutants from our groundwater supply. Fish and Wildlife surveys show that more than half of the 215 million acres of wetlands that once existed in the United States have disappeared, replaced by farms, factories, roads and cities. About 290 acres of wetlands continue to be lost each year.
