The Candidate Notice of Review is published primarily to solicit new information on the status of candidate species and threats to their survival. The Notice was last updated in September 1997.
The Service relies on a variety of sources in determining whether a species warrants listing under the Act, including contributions from private, university and government scientists and other citizens, as well as local, State and Federal land management and planning agencies.
The Notice also provides an advance look at which species the Service is considering proposing for protection, encourages conservation, and helps to avoid conflicts by promoting alternative planning and development strategies that accommodate the needs of candidate species.
Candidate species are those for which the Service has have on file sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to support proposals to list them as endangered or threatened. Issuance of proposed rules for these taxa is precluded at present by other higher priority listing actions. The Service processes listing actions according to its priority guidance, which grants the highest priority to species in the greatest need of protection. The complete Notice and list of candidates and proposed species are published in todays Federal Register.
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 93- million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 500 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management assistance 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.
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