Endangered Species Act

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Endangered Species Act

• GOALS
• Prevent species extinctions
• Increase numbers to the point where a species has
  recovered and can be delisted

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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

Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) or Tasmanian
wolf extinct 1900s
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• ESUs distinct populations or groups of
  populations of vertebrates.
• Population unit must be reproductively isolated
  from other populations of the same species to a
  significant extent.
• Population unit must represent an important
  component in the evolutionary legacy of the
  species.

Pacific coast coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch
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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?
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• 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
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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.

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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. May include areas that the species
does not occupy.
Monk seal, 1952 (declared extinct 2008)
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Criteria for Listing

• 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

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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.
• Estimates of time and costs

Pyrenean ibex, 2000 Last female killed by falling
tree
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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.

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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.

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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)
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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.

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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

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Components of aHabitat Conservation Plan

• Status
• Take
• Impact
• Mitigation
• Monitoring

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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
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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.

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Criticisms of ESA

• Listing also favors vertebrates invertebrates
  84 of all species in US and 1/3 or at-risk
  species, but only account for 14 of listed
  species.
• Funding also favors vertebrates (especially
  iconic species) 20 vertebrates in 2004 received
  gt50 of funds10 to all plants.