The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing the completion of a 90-day finding on a petition to remove the golden-cheeked warbler from the list of endangered species. This finding indicates that the petition presents substantial information suggesting that a change in status may be warranted. 

The 90-day finding does not trigger a change in the current endangered species status of the golden-cheeked warbler; rather, it initiates a more thorough review of all the biological information available for the species.   

The golden-cheeked warbler is still listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Any changes to the federal status of a species requires a separate rulemaking process, and any proposed rule would be published in the Federal Register, open to public comment. 

After receiving a petition to add species to the ESA, remove species from the list, and reclassify species already on the list, the Service is required to make a finding within 90 days of receiving a petition (to the extent practicable). This 90-day finding determines whether there is “substantial information” indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. 

Ninety-day findings represent the first step in a rigorous process by which the Service determines if a species warrants listing under the ESA. The standard for a substantial 90-day finding is relatively low, requiring only that the petitioner provide enough information that the action may be warranted. 

The ESA allows the public to petition the Service to add species to the Endangered Species Act, remove species from the list, and reclassify species already on the list. For more information on the ESA listing process, including 90-day findings and status reviews, please go to www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/listing.pdf.

The Service previously published two “not-substantial” 90-day findings for the golden-cheeked warbler that were challenged in court. A not substantial 90-day finding means there was not enough information submitted in the petition to suggest that a change in status for the species may be warranted. 

On Sept. 9, 2024, a U.S. District Court’s opinion caused the Service to reevaluate the information found within the petition. As a result, the Service is announcing today that the petition presents substantial information suggesting that a change in status may be warranted.

Any changes to the federal status of a species requires a separate rulemaking process and would be accomplished through rulemaking and announced to the public through a Federal Register notice and news release. 

Public input from Tribes, state, federal, and other government agencies, as well as the scientific community, industry, and any other interested parties would be requested during the comment period, with interested parties encouraged to provide input on the proposal. Those comments and any new scientific information would be considered in making a final decision on the change in federal listing status. The Service then has approximately one year to finalize, change, or withdraw any proposed regulations in the Federal Register. 

Given the lengthy review process, including a public comment period, ongoing workload constraints, and other considerations, a proposed and potential final change in federal listing status of the golden-cheeked warbler would likely be a multi-year effort. 

These two actions are not related. The 90-day finding of the golden-cheeked warbler is a distinct and separate action from the recent five-year review. 

The Service periodically analyzes the federal listing status of the golden-cheeked warbler through the five-year review process, with the most recent review published on Jan. 7, 2025. The recent five-year review concluded that the golden-cheeked warbler’s condition merits a potential change in listing status, due in part to decades of ongoing research that better clarifies our understanding of the species and its habitat conditions, and habitat conservation. 

Careful review and analysis of available information informed the Service’s recommended downlisting. Although the review recommended downlisting, it confirmed that the species faces ongoing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation and will continue to do so into the future.

Yes, collaborative long-term efforts to protect the species, its breeding habitat, and migratory range will continue to be carried out by the Service and its partners regardless of federal listing status. 

The golden-cheeked warbler’s long-term viability depends on the presence of habitat across its breeding and winter ranges. When the golden-cheeked warbler was federally listed in 1990, the Service identified habitat loss and degradation as major threats to the bird, which continue to negatively impact the species today. The causes of habitat loss and degradation include urbanization, wildfire, oak wilt, agriculture (such as ranching in the breeding range and coffee plantations on the wintering grounds) and the effects of climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.

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The Service works with private landowners, and local, state, national, and international partners to support and conserve golden-cheeked warbler habitat across the species’ breeding and wintering range. Due in large part to the long-term conservation efforts of a variety of partners across its range, the golden-cheeked warbler is making progress toward recovery.

The Service issued a recovery plan for the golden-cheeked warbler in 1992, and that same year the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the breeding habitats of the golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo (now delisted due to recovery). In addition, a combined mitigation total of over 69,000 acres of preserves in the bird’s breeding range in central Texas will be established upon full implementation of approximately 140 individual Habitat Conservation Plans.

About 5% of the golden-cheeked warbler breeding habitat is conserved on various federal, state and locally managed lands. The largest of these areas are U.S. Department of Defense lands (Camp Bullis Military Training Reservation and Fort Cavazos, formerly Fort Hood), Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, and the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve (City of Austin and Travis County).

Six conservation banks have been available for golden-cheeked warbler research and projects, and three remain active: Bandera Corridor Conservation Bank, Camp Wood Conservation Bank and Festina Lente Conservation Bank. Conservation banks are permanently protected lands that contain natural resource values and function to offset adverse impacts to ESA-listed species that occur or occurred elsewhere, sometimes referred to as off-site mitigation. If all credits are sold, they would permanently preserve approximately 14,786 acres of golden-cheeked warbler habitat.

Since 2003, the Alliance for Conservation of Mesoamerican Pine-Oak Forests (which includes six countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United States) has focused on conservation of the golden-cheeked warbler’s winter habitat. Additionally, high-priority habitat sites for the golden-cheeked warbler in Mexico and Central America are protected, and the species continues to benefit from the Service’s Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant Program. Find out more about how the Service is working with international partners on conservation efforts for the bird.