Endangered Species Act (ESA) Milestones | 2010s
In August 2011, conservationists involved in the effort to recover the federally threatened Chiricauha leopard frog celebrate the release of the 10,000th captive-bred frog into the wild.
USFWS
The beginning of the new decade has so far seen many successes in the face of ongoing conservation challenges. Our growth into a nation of more than 300 million people inevitably creates more threats to the health and well-being of our native fish, wildlife, and plant species. Much of the decade remains unwritten, but maintaining a strong, effective ESA – one that is responsive to both the needs of our imperiled resources and the concerns of our citizens – is high on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's agenda. All Americans can take pride in the fact that, under the ESA, the black-footed ferret, western snowy plover, and Oregon chub have rebounded from the brink of extinction. We can also celebrate the fact that many species no longer need the ESA's protection and have been removed from the list of threatened and endangered species, including the Maguire daisy, Tennessee purple coneflower, and Lake Erie water snake.
2010
The Service reclassifies the Okaloosa darter from the status of endangered to threatened under the ESA, recognizing that the small fish has made significant strides toward recovery. Learn more.
The Service recognizes the Oregon chub's improved condition by changing its legal status from endangered to the less critical category of threatened. Learn more.
The 10,000th captive-bred Chiricahua leopard frog is released into the wild. Learn more.
Biologists confirm that silvery minnows stocked in the Big Bend reach of the Rio Grande in Texas are successfully spawning—a major step in establishing the small, shiny fish outside the middle Rio Grande. Learn more.
A pair of short-tailed albatrosses incubating a single egg at Midway Island Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is a hopeful sign of the beginning of a new nesting site away from the threat of a volcano at the main site on Torishima Island. Read the news release.
2011
The Black-footed Ferret Recovery Program is celebrates two major milestones: the 30th Anniversary of the species' rediscovery and the 20th Anniversary of their successful return to the wild. Learn more.
The Maguire daisy is delisted following recovery. Learn more.
The Lake Erie water snake is delisted following recovery. Learn more.
The Tennessee purple coneflower is delisted following recovery. Learn more.
Bull trout return to Oregon's Clackamas River, one of their home waters from which they were completely wiped out nearly 50 years earlier. Read the news release.
A survey finds the Atlantic Coast piping plover breeding population has more than doubled from 790 pairs when it was first listed as a threatened species under the ESA in 1986 to nearly 1,800 pairs in 2011—close to the range-wide recovery goal of 2,000 pairs. Learn more.
A survey of western snowy plovers in Oregon finds the population is nearing recovery goals, rebounding from just 35 adult plovers in 1992 to a record 214 adults and 168 fledglings in 2011. Learn more.
In an effort to improve ESA implementation, the Service submits a multi-year listing workplan that will enable the agency to systematically review and address the needs of over 250 species listed on the 2010 Candidate Notice of Review, to determine if they warrant ESA protection.
The Service reclassifies the tulotoma snail from endangered to threatened under the ESA, declaring the ornate river snail is making major strides on the road to recovery.
The Concho water snake is delisted following recovery. Learn more.
The world's first successful captive breeding of the Ozark hellbender occurs at the Saint Louis Zoo. Learn more.
The Northern Rocky Mountains distinct population of the gray wolf is delisted following recovery, except in Wyoming.
Biologists relocate 24 Nihoa millerbirds from their last remaining holdout on remote Nihoa Island to Laysan Island. In a bold effort, the tiny songbirds were transported 650 miles northwest by sea to initiate a second population and minimize the risk of extinction. Read the news release.
A short-tailed albatross chick hatches on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge – about 1,200 miles northwest of Honolulu – marking the first confirmed hatching of a short-tailed albatross outside of the islands surrounding Japan in recorded history. Read the news release.
2012
The Morelet's crocodile is delisted following recovery. Read the news release.
The gray wolf is delisted following recovery, including Wyoming. Learn more.
The Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issue a final rule revising the implementing regulations under the ESA that relate to publishing critical habitat textual descriptions for endangered and threatened species.
The Service and NMFS jointly propose a policy to improve and clarify implementation of the ESA by providing a formal interpretation of the phrase "significant portion of its range" that appears in the ESA definitions of "endangered species" and "threatened species."
Biologists discover that endangered Nihoa millerbirds reintroduced to Hawaii's Laysan Island in 2011, after a 100-year absence, are now breeding there—a major step forward in efforts to save the species from extinction. Learn more.
Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, located along the Atlantic coastline of central Florida, has its best loggerhead sea turtle nesting season since 1998, with nearly 19,000 nests recorded.
