FEDERAL NEWS/LEGISLATIVE ALERTS

Theodore Rosevelt Conservation Policy 2010
added 2/10/2010

Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Work Plan to Restore Biological
 Priorities and Certainty to Endangered Species Listing Process

Washington, DC – The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today unveiled a work plan that will allow the agency to focus its
 resources on the species most in need of protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Service is filing the work plan today in a consolidated case in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of a proposed
agreement with one of the agency’s most frequent plaintiffs. The work plan, if aPproved by the Court, will enable the agency to systematically,
over a period of six years, review and address the needs of more than 250 species now on the list of candidates for protection under the ESA to
determine if they should be added to the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants.

“In the more than 35 years since its passage, the Endangered Species Act has proved to be a critical safety net for America’s imperiled fish,
wildlife, and plants,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes. “For the first time in years, this work plan will give the wildlife
professionals of the Fish and Wildlife Service the opportunity to put the  needs of species first and extend that safety net to those truly in need
of protection, rather than having our workload driven by the courts. It will also give states, stakeholders, and the public much-needed
certainty.”

Under the work plan announced today, the Service has laid out a schedule for making listing determinations for species that have been identified as
candidates for listing, as well as for a number of species that have been petitioned for protection under the ESA. If agreed to by the Court, this
plan will enable the Service to again prioritize its workload based on the needs of candidate species, while also providing state wildlife agencies,
stakeholders, and other partners clarity and certainty about when listing determinations will be made.

“This work plan will serve as a catalyst to move past the gridlock and acrimony of the past several years, enabling us to be more efficient and
effective in both getting species on the list and working with our partners to recover those species and get them off the list as soon as
possible,” said Acting Service Director Rowan Gould. “This is just the first step in our efforts to actively engage conservation partners and the
public in the search for improved and innovative ways to conserve and recover imperiled species.”

The Service’s highest priority is to make implementation of the ESA less complex, less contentious, and more effective. Gould noted that at the
direction of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the Service has begun a review of its implementation of the ESA designed to identify ways to
eliminate unnecessary procedural requirements; improve the clarity and consistency of regulations; engage the states, tribes, conservation
 organizations, and private landowners as more effective conservation partners; encourage greater creativity in the implementation of the Act;
 and reduce the frequency and intensity of conflicts as much as possible.

A candidate species is one for which the agency has determined that a  proposal to list is warranted. The Service maintains a Candidate List that
 is reviewed annually.

The Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973 to protect plants and  animal species facing extinction. The ESA currently protects more than
1,300 species in the U.S. and about 570 species abroad. The law allows citizens, groups, and government agencies to petition for species to be
 protected under the ESA, and sets specific statutory timelines for  responding to those petitions. Unlike many other federal laws, the ESA
contains a broad “citizen suit” provision enabling groups and individuals  to sue to enforce these deadlines established under the ESA.

 The Candidate List was originally envisioned as an administrative tool  that would identify species for which the Service would shortly make
 listing determinations. But as the Listing Program became inundated with petitions and lawsuits, species began to accumulate on the list. The sheer
 volume and mandatory nature of court orders, settlement-agreement obligations, and statutory deadlines related to petition findings and
other listing-related litigation has threatened to consume most of the Service’s available funding and staff. In the last four years, the Service
has been petitioned to list more than 1,230 species, nearly as many  species as have been listed during the previous 30 years of administering
the ESA. After numerous lawsuits were filed with respect to these  petitions, the Service initiated the consolidation and transfer of pending
 lawsuits from a number of different district courts to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This consolidation allowed us to have
 a single forum in which to resolve comprehensively and efficiently the  conflicting demands on the listing program.

 The Service’s ability to address the backlog of more than 250 candidate  species and ensure the orderly and timely listing of species under the
 Endangered Species Act is in direct proportion to the agency’s ability to balance that workload with other Listing Program duties. The agreement,
 reached with WildEarth Guardians, would enable the Service to restore that  balance if approved by the court.

 If the Service determines that listing is warranted for a species, the  agency will propose that species for listing and allow the public to
 review and comment on the proposal before making a final determination. A  list of these candidate species is available at
 http://www.fws.gov/endangered/improving_ESA/listing_workplan.html

 Ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to be protected  and recovered requires effective implementation of the ESA that is
responsive to both the needs of imperiled resources and the concerns of  citizens. The Service has developed a variety of tools and programs to
 help landowners fashion a conservation strategy for listed and candidate  species that is consistent with their land-management objectives and
 needs. These tools include Habitat Conservation Plans and Candidate  Conservation Agreements that provide regulatory assurance, technical
assistance, and a grants program that funds conservation projects by private landowners, states, and territories.
 
America’s fish, wildlife and plant resources belong to all of us, and  ensuring the health of imperiled species is a shared responsibility. To
 learn more about the Service’s Endangered Species program and tools  available to landowners, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/.

 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. Connect with our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws,
 follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch our YouTube Channel at  http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.