Our Services

To promote the conservation and recovery of federally listed endangered and threatened species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Louisiana Field Office's endangered species responsibilities include the following:

  • Identifying species that need protection. The Service is responsible for listing, reclassifying and delisting land and freshwater species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), based on an assessment of threats to the species and their habitats.
  • Providing biological and regulatory technical assistance to federal agencies through ESA section 7 consultation.
  • Providing biological and regulatory technical assistance to non-federal entities (individuals, organizations, companies and agencies) regarding activities that may affect listed species.
  • Implementing and coordinating recovery activities for listed species.
  • Working with private landowners to avoid and minimize impacts to listed species and to implement actions to benefit listed species.
  • Enforcing protections for federally listed species, and tracking their progress towards recovery.
  • Providing grants and technical assistance to states to assist with their conservation efforts benefitting species.
  • Working in partnership with people who have an interest in the conservation and recovery of federally listed species.
  • Evaluating the status of species to determine whether they qualify for listing under the ESA (candidate assessment).
  • Implementing conservation actions to prevent the need to list additional species (candidate conservation).

Our Programs

Butterfly rests on tall flowering plant.

The purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend and provide a program for the conservation of such species. The ESA directs all federal agencies to participate in conserving these species....

Mojave desert tortoise

Since two-thirds of federally listed species have at least some habitat on private land, and some species have most of their remaining habitat on private land, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has developed an array of tools and incentives to protect the...

Adult island marble butterfly resting on a blade of grass.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) considers candidate species to be those plants and animals that are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These are species for which we have enough information regarding their biological status and threats to propose them as...

Juvenile gopher tortoise

Conservation banking is a market-based system for conserving species and their habitat. It consists of a partnership between a landowner, one or more government agencies, and the community of developers and others who implement or fund projects that adversely affect endangered or threatened...