Recovery of upper Colorado River basin fish (Continued)

The Endangered Species Act (Continued)

Under the Endangered Species Act, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, oversees the protection and conservation of all forms of fish, wildlife and plants found to be in serious jeopardy.

The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the National Marine Fisheries Service, is given similar authority for most marine life.

In 1994, the departments of Interior and Commerce announced a series of new policies aimed at improving the law's effectiveness while making it easier for Americans to work with and understand and enhancing its flexibility for businesses and private landowners. The changes involved:
  • Minimizing social and economic impact of recovery planning;
  • Providing independent scientific peer review of listing and recovery decisions;
  • Requiring agencies implementing the act to identify quickly and clearly activities on private lands that may be affected by a listing decision;
  • Creating cooperative, ecosystem-based approaches to conserve listed and candidate species before crises arise;
  • Establishing guidelines to ensure decisions made under the Act represent the best available scientific information; and
  • Providing a greater role for state agencies, with a closer relationship between federal and state officials.

No U.S. court has ruled that an unconstitutional "taking" of private property has resulted from the Endangered Species Act.

(Precursors to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 were the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, which provided additional protection to species in danger of worldwide extinction and prohibited importation of such species and sale within the United States; and the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, which allowed listing of only native animal species as endangered and provided limited means for protecting those species.) (Continued)

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Endangered Colorado River basin fish Historical perspective on these fish Why these fish are endangered Upper Colorado River Recovery Program Improving habitat for the fish
Conducting research Protecting stream flows Managing non-native fish Hatcheries and stocking Back to Home Page