Interagency Cooperation for Endangered Species

Target Audience:

FWS and NOAA Fisheries (Services) biologists, action agency biologists and consultants responsible for conducting project reviews of potential impacts to listed, proposed, or candidate species and their critical habitat.

Summary and Objectives:

Participants acquire basic information on conducting interagency consultation under Section 7 Section 7
Section 7 Consultation The Endangered Species Act (ESA) directs all Federal agencies to work to conserve endangered and threatened species and to use their authorities to further the purposes of the Act. Section 7 of the Act, called "Interagency Cooperation," is the mechanism by which Federal agencies ensure the actions they take, including those they fund or authorize, do not jeopardize the existence of any listed species.

Learn more about Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. Key information needs and procedures are addressed, with a focus on the information needs related to biological assessments and biological opinions. Lecture and discussion emphasize interagency exchange of information and solutions to support species conservation.

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the components of interagency consultation and describe related requirements and procedures.
• Describe the necessary information included in a biological assessment or biological opinion.
• Describe and apply the 'may affect/no effect,' 'jeopardy/no jeopardy' and 'adverse modification' determination processes.
• Describe Section 7(a)(1) conservation obligation and give examples of national consultations.
• Explain the importance of Section 7 consultation in implementing the conservation mandates of the Endangered Species Act. 

Competency Addressed:

Conservation Biology- Basic, Environmental Compliance- Intermediate, Organizational Awareness- Basic, Partnering- Basic, Technical Documentation- Basic.

Contact for this course schedule after January 2024 will be joshua_vance@fws.gov.