For Immediate Release
Date: Oct. 25, 2011
Contact: Erica Szlosek, (916) 978-6159
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Releases Annual List of Candidates for Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today released its Candidate Notice of Review, a yearly appraisal of the current status of plants and animals considered candidates for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Nationwide, three species have been removed from candidate status, three have been added, and seven have a change in priority from the last review conducted in November of 2010.
Today’s notice identifies three new candidate species: bracted twistflower (TX), Poweshiek skipperling (upper Midwest), and magnificent ramshorn (NC). The three species removed from the candidate list include Wekiu bug, Gila springsnail, and the New Mexico springsnail. There are now 244 species recognized by the Service as candidates for ESA protection.
The Pacific Southwest Region (which covers California, Nevada and the Klamath Basin) added two species to the candidate list earlier in 2011. The Mt. Charleston blue butterfly and Hermes copper butterfly were added to the candidate list when the Service published a warranted-but-precluded 12-month finding for each species (March 8, 2011 for the Mt. Charleston blue butterfly and on April 14, 2011 for the Hermes copper butterfly). The Region did not remove any species from the candidate list this year.
“The candidate list offers the Service and our partners a unique opportunity to address the threats to these species through voluntary conservation efforts on public and private lands,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “We will continue developing conservation strategies and programs that guide these conservation efforts and provide predictability to landowners undertaking actions to conserve non-listed species.”
Candidate species are plants and animals for which the Service has enough information on their status and the threats they face to propose them as threatened or endangered, but developing a proposed listing rule is precluded by higher priority listing actions. Candidate species do not receive protection under the ESA, although the Service works to conserve them. The annual review and identification of candidate species provides landowners and resource managers notice of species in need of conservation, allowing them to address threats and work to preclude the need to list the species. The Service is currently working with landowners and partners to implement voluntary conservation agreements covering 5 million acres of habitat for more than 130 candidate species.
The Service is soliciting additional information on these candidate species, as well as information on other species that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. This information will be valuable in preparing listing documents and future revisions or supplements to the candidate notice of review.
The Service is working to make implementation of the ESA less complex, less contentious, and more effective. To further efforts for improving ESA implementation, the Service filed a multi-year listing work plan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on May 10, 2011, developed through a settlement agreement with WildEarth Guardians and a separate, complementary settlement agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity on July 12, 2011.
These historic agreements were approved by Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C. on September 9, 2011, and will allow the Service to more effectively focus its efforts on providing the benefits of the ESA to those imperiled species most in need of protection. This work plan will enable the agency to systematically, over a period of six years, review and address the needs of candidate species to determine if they require ESA protection. A list of these species is available at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/improving_ESA/listing_workplan.html.
The Service has also multiple tools for protecting candidate species and their habitats, including a grants program that funds conservation projects by private landowners, states and territories. In addition, the Service can enter into Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs), formal agreements between the Service and one or more public or private parties to address the conservation needs of proposed or candidate species, or species likely to become candidates, before they actually become listed as endangered or threatened. CCA participants voluntarily commit to implementing specific actions removing or reducing the threats to these species, thereby contributing to stabilizing or restoring the species. Through 110 CCAs, habitat for more than 100 species is managed on federal, state, local agency, tribal and private lands; many CAAs have multiple cooperators focusing conservation actions in an area supporting a single or multiple species. Another similar tool is the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAAs).
While these voluntary agreements are only between the Service and non-Federal landowners, they have the same goals as CCAs in addressing threats to candidate species, but with additional incentives for conservation actions on non-Federal lands. More than 60 landowners in 15 states have enrolled over 1 million acres of habitat for 40 species.
The complete notice and list of proposed and candidate species appears in the Federal Register and can be found online at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/cnor.html.
- FWS -
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.
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