The agreement supports the Services existing priority system which ranks at-risk, candidate species based on the degree of threat faced by each candidate, as well as the taxonomic rarity of a species.
"This agreement essentially gives a seal of approval to the Services existing method for setting priorities for these species in need of protection," said John Turner, Service Director.
Under the agreement, and based on the existing priority system, the Service will decide whether to propose for listing approximately 400 "category 1" candidate plants and animals over the next four years. Category 1 species are those for which the best scientific information supports listing but, due to other demands, the Service has been unable to develop a listing proposal. Those species with the highest priority will be proposed first.
The Service has agreed to decide whether to propose for listing approximately 95 category 1 candidate species each year through September 1996, a commitment comparable with the past two years, when the Service proposed 215 plants and animals and listed 144. In addition, the Service is to report annually on its progress through 1997.
The agreement also formalizes a Service commitment to emphasize, where possible, multiple species listings or proposals that address entire ecosystems, instead of a species-by-species approach. In addition to being more cost-effective, these methods allow the Service to focus on the needs of plant and animal communities as a whole, not individually.
Species petitioned for listing, that are determined by the Service to be warranted for listing but precluded by species currently of higher priority, will be classified only as category 1 species, instead of category 1 or 2. Category 2 candidates are those for which insufficient information exists to conclude that listing is warranted but continued monitoring will be carried out.
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 which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
