Contacts
Chris Tollefson (FWS) 202-219-8104
Gordon Helm (NMFS) 301-713-2370
The Interior Department's U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department's National
Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) announced a policy
today that should help guide states, local, Tribal and foreign
governments, businesses, organizations, and individuals in
their efforts to restore populations of declining species
before they require the protection of the Endangered Species
Act.
The Policy for Evaluation of Conservation
Efforts (PECE) will ensure consistent and adequate evaluation
of current and future conservation efforts when considering
species for addition to the federal list of threatened and
endangered species. The policy identifies certain criteria
that the two agencies will use in determining whether a future
or recently implemented conservation effort, such as habitat
restoration or protection, has contributed to the long-term
survival of a species making listing that species unnecessary,
or has contributed to improving the status of a species to the
extent that it should be listed as threatened rather than
endangered.
"We hope this policy will encourage active
conservation efforts before a species and its habitat are
critically imperiled. Such efforts will increase the
likelihood that simple, cost- effective conservation actions
are undertaken to reverse population declines and prevent the
need to list some species," said Interior Secretary Gale
Norton.
"By working closely with local
governments, individuals and other concerned groups, we can
encourage faster, more comprehensive protection for species at
risk," Commerce Secretary Don Evans said. "These conservation
efforts will improve our ability to protect marine species
before there is a need to list them under the Endangered
Species Act."
In order for a conservation effort to
affect the listing decision, the PECE policy requires the
agencies to find that the effort is certain to be implemented
and sufficiently effective. Such criteria include
identification of explicit conservation objectives and dates
for achieving them, steps necessary to implement the efforts,
and standards for measuring progress.
"I am committed to working closely with
states and others to develop conservation efforts that could
eliminate the threats to a species before it requires the
protections of the Endangered Species Act," said Dr. Bill
Hogarth, assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration fisheries service. "This policy
will let everyone know up-front how NOAA Fisheries and the FWS
will evaluate conservation efforts."
Early conservation efforts have been a
valuable tool in eliminating threats to species, preventing
the need to add them to the list of threatened and endangered
species. Such efforts prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to withdraw proposals to list the pecos pupfish in New
Mexico and Texas, the Virgin River spinedace in Utah and the
southern population of the copperbelly water snake in
Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.
"States have been working in partnership
with the Service and other organizations and individuals to
conserve candidate species for years. This policy recognizes
that they can and do make a real contribution to the long-term
survival and recovery of declining species," said U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams.
The Services are committed to working
closely with states and others to develop conservation efforts
that could eliminate the threats to a species before it
requires the protections of the Endangered Species Act. More
information about the PECE policy can be found on the Fish and
Wildlife Service website at: http://endangered.fws.gov, or on
the NOAA Fisheries website at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov
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 540 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.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is
the principal steward of the nation's living marine resources,
protecting marine and anadromous species under the Endangered
Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. An agency of
the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, NOAA Fisheries also regulates the nation's
commercial and recreational fisheries and conserving and
managing marine species under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act throughout federal waters
which extend 200 miles from the coastline.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic
security and national safety through the prediction and
research of weather and climate-related events and providing
environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine
resources.
For more information online please visit:
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service - http://www.fws.gov
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