The Endangered Species Act A Synopsis Goal: To provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend may be conserved and to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered and threatened species. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 and amendments represent a safety net for the protection of rare plants and animals in the United States. There are three key components of the ESA which must be maintained for the Act to remain effective: 1) Decisions must be based on sound and objective science; 2) economic considerations must be used judiciously, and should not be allowed to overshadow the scientific and biological foundation of the Act; and 3) habitat conservation must be an integral part of the Act, for species survival is inextricably linked to the existence of habitat. These principles must be incorporated into the reauthorized law. Recommendations: * Require independent scientific peer review of all proposals to list species and all draft plans to recover species. The threatened or endangered determination should remain a biological judgement about the future viability of a species; economic considerations should not preclude the scientific determination of a species biological status. * Protect distinct populations and subspecies. In the report Science and the Endangered Species Act, the National Research Council (NRC) finds that protecting subspecies is a scientifically sound and important provision of the ESA and should be maintained in the reauthorized act. * Include habitat degradation in the definition of "harm." The loss of habitat is the leading cause of species endangerment. Habitat is directly linked to the welfare of a species, and therefore, habitat protection is a prerequisite for endangered species conservation. * Delineate and conserve habitat that supports multiple species. A primary goal of the ESA is to protect the ecosystems upon which endangered species depend. While the interpretation of the "purpose" language has varied, scientists generally acknowledge that ecosystem protection must play a key role in endangered species conservation. Ecosystem conservation protects multiple species which depend on the same habitat. * Emphasize biologically effective and realistic goals in recovery plans. Biologists generally agree that any species whose population is less than a few thousand individuals stands a significant risk of extinction over the course of the next several decades to several centuries. Many of the recovery plans that are approved set the population goals so low that, even if achieved, the species would remain at risk of extinction and could not be safely removed from the list. In many cases, recovery is limited by habitat loss; in these cases, low recovery numbers represent the best that can be done with the remaining habitat. * Create "survival habitat" at the time of listing to prevent a species from going extinct before a recovery plan is implemented. "Survival habitat" is the minimum amount necessary to support current populations or populations necessary to ensure short term (25-50 years) survival, as defined in Science and the Endangered Species Act. Because of its emergency nature, no economic considerations should preclude survival habitat designation. Survival habitat should be designated during the listing process, but should automatically expire with the adoption of a recovery plan and the designation of critical habitat. * Streamline the listing process and avoid backlogs by designating critical habitat during the recovery planning process. Many species are being listed too late in their declines to provide a reasonable chance of recovery. In this sense, the currently slow pace of listing and recovery plan implementation may be creating a pool of permanently endangered species. This change should be made in conjunction with designating "survival habitat" as recommended by the NRC at the time of listing to prevent the species from extinction before a recovery plan can be adopted. * Create a wildlife diversity act, to be used in tandem with the ESA, to strengthen species protection before economic activities need be curtailed severely. The Endangered Species Act is a safety net; it is an attempt to save species before extinction. While the ESA has proven to be effective in recovering some species, more work needs to be done to protect species before they become threatened or endangered. Wildlife diversity legislation which takes a comprehensive, landscape-wide approach to species conservation could prevent species from being listed. * The Wildlife Society supports habitat conservation planning as a useful approach to accommodating desirable development projects while protecting species. The Wildlife Society is concerned, however, that the cumulative effects of these developments are not being taken into account when the HCPS are approved. The impacts must be assessed at a regional level, lest impacts accumulate and lead to unforeseen and unintended harm to the species. The size and distribution of habitat is critical-often patterns of habitat are as important as the amount of habitat protected. Wildlife corridors, for example, can be a powerful tool in species conservation, but the acreage and distribution must be planned carefully to deliver desired benefits. * Develop voluntary incentive programs for protecting endangered species habitat. The ESA must: 1. subject listing decisions and draft recovery plans to independent scientific peer review; 2. uphold the biological emphasis of the Act by recognizing when biological and economic criteria are appropriate and; 3. recognize that both habitat conservation and species protection are critical to the effectiveness of the ESA. Additional legislation may be necessary to prevent species decline to threatened or endangered status.