Listing and Candidate Conservation in the Southeast

Southeast Atlantic Slope Mollusk Meeting Raleigh, North Carolina

January 11, 2012

Section 4 of the Federal Endangered Species Act (Act)

Outlines the procedures for adding and removing species from the list and designation of critical habitat.

Outlines recovery plans and 5 year reviews.Clearly assigns responsibilities to both the Secretary of

the Interior and Secretary of Commerce .

DefinitionsEndangered: any species which is in danger of extinction

throughout all or a significant portion of its range

Threatened: any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Critical Habitat: the specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time its listed, on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and (II) which require special management considerations or protection; and specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed such that the areas are essential for the conservation of the species.

Candidate: are those taxa for which the Service has sufficient information on their biological status and threats to list as endangered or threatened under the Act but for which the development of a listing regulation has been precluded to date by other higher priority listing activities.

Definitions

How are species listed?

Petition process orCandidate assessment

process

A species is added to the candidate list when we have sufficient information on biological vulnerability and threats to support a proposal to list as E or T, but precluded by higher priority listing actions. Determined by Five Listing Factors:

The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the species’ habitat or range

Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes

Disease or predationThe inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanismsOther natural or manmade factors affecting the species’

survival.It is then assigned a listing priority number based on: 1) taxonomic status (sole member of genus, subspecies, pop/DPS), and 2) magnitude and imminence of threats.

Candidate Assessment Process

Species that we believe meet the definition of threatened or endangered under the ESA

Candidate Notice of Review

Chucky madtom, photo by J.R. ShuteAlabama pearlshell survey

Internal Process

Petitions

Petitions are formal requests from the public or other stakeholders to add or remove species from the List, reclassify a species, or designate or revise CH

90 day findings (substantial or not)12 month findings (warranted, warranted but

precluded, not warranted).

External Process

RulemakingProposed rules published in Federal Register.

Comment periods vary (typically 60 days); Public hearings held upon request; Notices (e.g., of economicanalysis or public hearings) also published in Federal Register.

Final rules published within one year of proposed rule

Emergency rules no public comment period and effective for up to 240 days

Critical HabitatShould be designated at time of listingRefers to those areas that contain the physical and

biological features essential to the conservation of the species

Involves an economic analysis and possible exclusionsHighly controversial and often misunderstoodMay be found to be “not prudent” or “not determinable”

Cahaba River, ALClinch River, TN

Listing Program Workload 1996-2010

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

100

200

300

400

500

600

Critical Habitat Des-ignations

Petition Findings (90-day & 12-month)

Listing Determinations (proposed and final)

Year

Num

ber

of S

peci

es

33%

SE Region

Other FWS regions

Listing Program Workload 2007-2011

MegapetitionReceived from Center for Biological Diversity (CBD),

Alabama Rivers Alliance, Clinch Coalition, Dogwood Alliance, Gulf Restoration Network, Tennessee Forests Council, and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy on April 20, 2010.

404 species across the Southeast with overlap with Regions 2, 3, and 5

1,145-page petition

MegapetitionTaxonomic Breakdown:

92 Crustaceans92 Mussels and Snails (26 from SE Atlantic Slope)82 Plants55 Insects 48 Fish15 Amphibians13 Reptiles4 Mammals3 Birds

Magnificent Ramshorn - A. Wood

Determining Our Future Workload

May 2011: FWS settled lawsuits with Wild Earth Guardians (WEG) and CBD over a backlog of 251 candidate species – including 61 in the Southeast. Settlement included a workplan to guide agency actions over next 6 years.

September 2011: FWS found 374 of the 404 aquatic and aquatic-dependent species from the “megapetition” may warrant ESA listing

Listing Work PlanFWS commitments:Complete 90-day and/or 12-month petition findings for over 500 species in the next

2 years.

Over a period of six years: Determine whether 251 species on the November 2010 list of candidates should

be listed (SE Region has 61 of those species); List an additional 31 species (SE Region has lead for 2 of those species)Make 90-day findings on incoming petitions to screen for emergency listing, and,

if necessary, process listings; andDesignate critical habitat at the time of listing when prudent and determinable..

Listing Work Plan:General WEG & CBD commitments

Moratorium and limitations on litigation to enforce ESA deadlines or to challenge warranted-but-precluded findings.

Cap on petitions submitted each year.

Listing Work PlanJoint FWS-WEG/CBD Commitments

Work to ensure that other deadline litigation or the remedy phase of merits challenges do not interfere with the work plan.

Establish dispute resolution process if the assumptions identified in the agreements do not materialize.

The FWS and WEG will hold annual meetings to discuss progress.

Listing Work PlanThe work plan provides certainty and predictability to landowners and communities about what species will be listed and the general timeline.The Service will continue to work closely with our state counterparts and other key stakeholders as we implement the plan

Next StepsGather as much information as possible on status and

distribution of 374 species with “substantial” petition findings from Megapetition, and the threats they face.

Work to conserve as many of these species and our federal candidates as possible.

Candidate Conservation : Southeast Region’s CommitmentLaunched “CCAA +” InitiativeMore than $200,000 in FY 2012

Hired a new CCAA Coordinator for the Region(Gabrielle (Gabe) Horner)

$50,000 for outreach and engagement

Plan to work cooperatively with all partners and stakeholders to address threats and secure conservation agreements

Conservation Agreements

Candidate Conservation

Agreements (CCAs)

and

Candidate Conservation

Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs)

FWS biologist Mike Sealy holds a candidate species, the Louisiana pine snake.

CCAs and CCAAs are both voluntary, formal agreements with the Service.

CCAAs also provide incentivesto non-Federal landowners:

• Regulatory Certainty

• Cost Containment

The Greater Adams Cave beetle in Kentucky is one of four Southeastern species covered under a CCAA.

1*

1

24 Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances

As of today, only 1 of the 40 species covered under a CCAA has been listed under the ESA.

2**2 4***

1

11

2

1*

1*

1*

1

1 *~ 1

* = Programmatic Agreement

1

* 1

Robust Redhorse CCAASigned in 2002 by USFWS, Georgia DNR, and Georgia Power. The species has not required Federal listing.

CCAAs in the worksSpring pygmy sunfish: Belle

Mina Farm Ltd., AlabamaSafe Harbor Agreement (SHA)/CCAA for 3

listed and 24 candidate species: Arkansas, TNC and NRCS

SHA/CCAA for several longleaf pine dependant species in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi

Panama City crayfish: The St. Joe Company, Florida Panama City crayfish

- Ed Keppner

Black pine snake - Bill Finch, TNC

BenefitsIdentified threats are reduced or

removedConserved now, possibly before

an ESA listing is necessaryCost effective way to conserve

speciesAssurances for landownersMany species already a priority

for states & other stakeholders

Florida bonneted bat

Spring pygmy sunfish

Additional Conservation Agreements/Actions to Address Threats

Land acquisitionPartners for Fish and

Wildlife agreementsConservation easementsDepartment of

Agriculture programsConservation banksState & NGO agreementsDept. of Energy &

Defense programs

Changes in management regimes (e.g., flows)

State & local laws/ ordinances

Questions?

Rob Tawes U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceSoutheast Regional Office1875 Century BoulevardAtlanta, GA 404/679-7142robert_tawes@fws.govwww.fws.gov/southeast

For more information visit: www.fws.gov/endangered

orhttp://www.fws.gov/endangered/improving_ESA

/listing_workplan.html