The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today published a revised list of 260 species of plants and animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, including 16 new candidate species added since the Candidate Notice of Review was last published in 2001.
The Service periodically publishes an updated Candidate Notice of Review primarily to solicit new information on the status of candidate species and threats to their survival. Service biologists rely on a variety of sources for the scientific determination of whether a species may require listing under the Act, including information from private, university and government scientists, local, state and federal land management and planning agencies and private citizens.
The Notice, last updated in October 2001, also informs the public which species the Service is considering proposing for protection, encourages conservation, and promotes development that accommodates the needs of candidate species. In addition, the Notice includes 39 domestic animal and plant species that have already been proposed for addition to the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants, but for which a final listing determination has not been made.
"The candidate list is an important tool, helping to identify imperiled species and focusing attention on the need to conserve them before they receive Endangered Species Act protection. By working to recover these species now, in partnership with states, local communities and individuals, we can implement flexible, cost-effective conservation measures that put them on the road to recovery," said Service Director Steve Williams.
The Service places a species on the candidate list when it has sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to the species to warrant proposing to list it as endangered or threatened. It then uses a formal priority system to determine which species will be proposed for listing first, granting highest priority to species in greatest need of protection.
The Service has removed eight species from the candidate list since it was last revised in 2001. Six species removed by this Notice were given protection under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered species, one species was removed due to lack of pertinent biological information, and one species was removed since it was mistakenly included in the previous candidate list.
