Endangered Species Act
GOALS:
• Prevent species extinctions
• Increase numbers to the point where a species has
recovered and can be delisted
Endangered Species Act
• Protection of gene pools
– Subspecies, evolutionary significant units
• Protection of populations
– Distinct population segments
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Protection of species
Protection of habitat
Recovery plans
Incidental take permits
– Habitat Conservation Plans
Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) or Tasmanian wolf – extinct 1900s
ESUs = distinct populations or groups of
populations of vertebrates.
1. Population unit must be reproductively
isolated from other populations of the
same species to a significant extent.
2. Population unit must represent an
important component in the
evolutionary legacy of the species.
Pacific coast coho salmon – Oncorhynchus kisutch
Endangered Species Act
• Protection of gene pools
– Subspecies, evolutionary significant units
• Protection of populations
– Distinct population segments
•
•
•
•
Protection of species
Protection of habitat
Recovery plans
Incidental take permits
– Habitat Conservation Plans
Bajii, or Yangtze River dolphin – 2007?
• USFWS (2007) listed Alabama sturgeon as distinct species rather than
include it as part of the more populous shovelnose sturgeon.
• Decision based on morphology, not on genetics (both species
genetically identical).
Alabama sturgeon - Scaphirhynchus suttkusi
Endangered Species Act
Established procedures for:
• Listing species as
• ‘threatened’ – likely to become endangered in the
foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of
its range, or
• ‘endangered’ – at risk of extinction throughout all or a
significant portion of its range.
• Designating critical habitat.
• Preparing recovery plans for listed species.
Critical habitat
USFWS must designate ‘critical habitat’
at the time of listing to the ‘maximum
extent prudent and determinable’.
Definition: the specific areas occupied by
the species ‘on which are found those
physical or biological features’ that are
essential for its conservation and that
‘may require special management
considerations or protection’.
Monk seal, 1952 (declared extinct 2008)
May include areas that the species does
not occupy.
Criteria for Listing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Present or threatened destruction or modification of the
species’ habitat or range
Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or
educational purposes
Disease or predation
Inadequate regulatory mechanisms
Other factors affecting the species’ continued existence
* Any interested person can petition USFWS to list species and start review
process. Review must provide substantiative scientific information indicating
listing may be warranted
Recovery plans
• Within 2.5 years of listing, a formal
recovery plan must be completed
• The goal is not only for protection, but to
remove species from the brink of
extinction
• Must include:
‘Site-specific management actions’.
‘Objective, measureable criteria’ for
evaluating recovery.
Pyrenean ibex, 2000
Last female killed by falling tree
Estimates of time and costs
What does the ESA do?
• Unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the
US to engage in acts threatening to endangered and
threatened species, including taking, possession,
transportation, and sale
• Taking is defined broadly to include harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill trap, capture, or collect, or
attempt to engage in any such conduct.
Does take = habitat destruction?
• Palila v. Hawaii Dept. of Land and Natural Resources
– Court ruled that when the State allowed sheep and goats on the
slopes of Mauna Kea, the defoliation caused by browsing changed
the habitat, endangered the Palila, and therefore constituted a take.
Harm/harass
• This changed the definition of harm and harass to: any
intentional or negligent act or omission, including habitat
modification, that creates the likelihood of injury to wildlife
by annoying it to such an extent to significantly disrupt
normal behavior patterns which include, but are not limited to
breeding, feeding, or sheltering.
Canadian oystercatcher, 1940
(declared extinct 1994)
What happens if there are Endangered Species on your
property?
• Incidental take permits = Habitat Conservation Plans
• Landowners may receive a permit to take imperiled species on their
lands, provided that such takings were incidental to otherwise lawful
activities (e.g., construction or timber harvest). A landowner must
prepare an HCP that outlines how much take will occur as a result of
the proposed activity and what steps would be taken to minimize and
mitigate the effects. If HCP minimizes and mitigates to the maximum
extent practicable, and that the taking is unlikely to jeopardize the
continued survival and recovery of the species, then the HCP is
approved and the permit is issued and the project may commence.
What is an HCP?
• Taking permitted on land if it will be incidental
• The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable,
minimize and mitigate the impacts of the taking
• The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the
plan will be provided
• Taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in the wild
• …and other stuff…
Components of a
Habitat Conservation Plan
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Status
Take
Impact
Mitigation
Monitoring
The (dreaded) no surprises clause
• Essentially, state and private landowners are assured that if
“unforeseen circumstances” arise, the FWS will not require the
commitment of additional land, water, or financial compensation or
additional restrictions on the use of land, water, or other natural
resources beyond the level otherwise agreed to in the HCP without the
consent of the permit holder.
Javan tiger, 1994
Criticisms of ESA
• Decisions to list are not sufficiently timely and are subject to political pressure.
• Animal species are afforded more protection than plants (plants and animals protected
on federal lands, but only animals on private lands.)
• Protects ‘distinct populations’ of vertebrates but not plants or invertebrates.
Criticisms of ESA
• Listing also favors vertebrates – invertebrates = 84% of all species in US and 1/3 or atrisk species, but only account for 14% of listed species.
• Funding also favors vertebrates (especially iconic species) – 20 vertebrates in 2004
received >50% of funds;10% to all plants.