Under the
Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)
is responsible for maintaining the Endangered and Threatened Wildlife
and Plants List. The Listing program is responsible for listing,
delisting, and reclassification of Pacific Island species on this
list, and the designation of critical habitat for listed species.
In assessing the status of a species, the Service publishes notices
of review that identify U.S. species considered as candidates for
listing. To become a candidate, the Service relies largely upon
petitions, surveys, and other substantiated reports on field studies
from state agencies, public and private groups and individuals.
Anyone may petition the Service to have a species listed or reclassified
as endangered or threatened, or removed from the list. All notices
throughout the rulemaking process are published in the Federal
Register.
Because of the large number of candidates and the time required
to list a species, the Service has developed a priority system designed
to direct its efforts objectively toward the plants and animals
in the greatest need. The degree of threat is the highest decisive
factor, followed by the immediacy of the threat and the taxonomic
distinctiveness of the species.
A species is only determined to be an endangered species or a threatened
species because of any one or more of the following factors (economics
or others not listed here are not permissible under the Act):
- 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; or
- other natural
or man-made factors affecting its continued existence.
Once a species
is chosen for listing, the Service publishes a proposed rule in
the Federal Register. At this stage, all interested parties
are encouraged to comment and provide additional information on
the proposal and to submit statements at any public hearing that
may be held.
Within one year of when a listing proposal is published, one of
three possible courses of action must be taken: 1) a final listing
rule is published; 2) if the biological information then on hand
does not support the listing, the proposal is withdrawn; or 3) if,
at the end of one year, there is substantial disagreement within
the scientific community concerning the biologic appropriateness
of the listing, the proposal may be extended, but only for an additional
six months. After that, a decision must be made on the basis of
the best scientific information available. If approved, the final
listing rule generally becomes effective 30 days after publication
in the Federal Register. After a species is listed, its status
is reviewed at least every five years to determine if Federal protection
is still warranted.
When a species is proposed for listing as endangered or threatened,
areas of habitat believed essential to its conservation may be proposed
for designation as "critical habitat." This includes areas
of land, water, and air space required by a listed species for its
survival and recovery. Designated areas usually include only the
habitat actually occupied by a species, but areas outside the species'
current range may also be included when considered essential to
its survival and recovery. The Endangered Species Act directs the
Service to designate critical habitat for endangered and threatened
species when "prudent and determinable." When a designation
of critical habitat is determined to be prudent, the Service publishes
a proposal in the Federal Register and solicits public comments.
A critical habitat designation requires the Service to prepare an
analysis that considers the economic and other impacts of the proposed
designation. Certain areas may be excluded from the critical habitat
designation if the economic benefits of exclusion outweigh the benefits
of inclusion. However, such areas cannot be excluded if their exclusion
would result in extinction of the species.
A designation of critical habitat does not create a wildlife refuge
or wilderness area, nor does it close the area to human activity.
It applies only to Federal agencies if they propose to fund, authorize,
or carry out activities that may adversely modify areas within the
designated critical habitat. Critical habitat may be designated
on private or State lands, but activities on these lands are not
restricted by the Endangered Species Act unless direct harm to listed
wildlife would result or a Federal permit or other Federal involvement
is required. |
