North American wildlife is as iconic to our culture as apple pie. But unlike the ingredients to our beloved cinnamon baked treat, it is a rarity to find those who know the ingredients to our successful wildlife systems. The North American Model of Conservation, public lands, and the national wildlife refuge systems are all intricate aspects that work hand in hand to keep our wildlife thriving. But like any well oiled machine, there are times when unforeseen or sometimes even ignored events causes a break down in the system, demanding a need for a backup plan. That plan is the endangered species act. It is likely we have all seen the iconic symbol of the panda chewing on a bamboo shoot. Or even can name a few animals on the Endangered Species list. But what is the Endangered Species Act? And how does it work?

History of the Endangered Species Act

In 1966 congress passed what was known as the Endangered Species Preservation Act, which provided native species deemed endangered of extinction, limited protection and the preservation of their habitat. By 1973 the US held a conference in Washington DC, and led 80 countries to sign the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES). This convention agreement monitored and restricted the international trade of plants and animals that were believed to be harmed by commerce. (By this point it was already illegal to use wild game as a commodity in the US).

• Later in 1973 congress passed and President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act. The act has significant changes to the original act of 1966 which included:
• Applied harvesting prohibitions to all endangered species, and included the same guidelines for species deemed to be threatened
• Prohibited federal agencies to authorize or fund any action that could jeopardize a listed species, or its habitat
  Made matching funds available for states with cooperative agreements

How Does a Species Become Listed?

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is tasked by the Federal Government to work with other federal agencies, as well as state and local agencies to implement and monitor the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In order for a species to receive the protections of ESA it must first be placed on the Endangered Species List.

In order to be listed, the US Fish Wildlife Service (FWS) must receive a petition for listing. Any person, organization or agency can submit a petition, but the petition must be backed by scientific evidence. The FWS has 90 days from receiving the petition to review the scientific evidence to determine if there is substantial evidence that indicates the petition action may be warranted. If it is determined to be warranted the species is listed as a candidate.

• As a candidate, the species will undergo a biological review that will encompass many factors such as:
• Present or threatened destruction of its habitat or range
  over utilization for commercial, recreational, scientific or educational purposes
• disease or predation
• natural or man made factors affecting its survival

Once the biological review is complete there will be a 12 month period in which the FWS will propose a ruling, and give the public a 60-day comment period. Upon this time period the decision whether or not to list the candidate species will be made.

Here is a list of all current candidates being considered by the FWS.

How is a Species Delisted?

The FWS and stakeholders must create a recovery plan for each species. These recovery plans include population density, home range recovery, as well as external threats to to the species. Once the recovery goals have been met, the same process of listing a species begins with the goal of delisting. Agencies will set a petition to delist, there will be a biological peer review of the criteria, and then there will be a comment period before there is a decision on the removal from the list.

Once a species is removed from the list, the state agencies along with other stakeholders must monitor the species, and its ability for survival without ESA protection for a minimum of five years.

Does the Endangered Species Act Work?

The effectiveness of the the Endangered Species Act is an argument that can be seen from both sides. Since 1973 there have been 2,105 species of plants and animals listed. A total of 56 of those species have come off the list. Here is how they break down

• 28 of those delisted species were because of recovery (1.3%).
• 10 have gone extinct (.4%)
• The final 18 were delisted for various reasons such as original error in being listed

If the main goal of the ESA is to prevent extinction, the program has been very successful (99.6%). But for those who would like to see the full recovery of endangered species to our landscape the delisting rate of 1.3% is very ineffective.

Only time will tell if the Endangered Species List is a lifetime sentence for animals, or if it will be a tool that conservationists can continue to count on.