This posting asks important questions about the sp...

2011-10-12T12:09:32.914-06:00

This posting asks important questions about the species settlement agreements. We are pleased to provide answers. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required to publish petition findings, listing determinations, and critical habitat designations for more than 700 species in FY 2011 in accordance with Exhibit B in WildEarth Guardians’ agreement. The agency reportedly provided all required decisions to the Federal Register on September 30 and there are only a few left to be published.

Not only is the agency on schedule posting their decisions, but the majority of them advance protection for imperiled species. The agency has proposed to list 39 species under the ESA in the past 12 months, and finalized listing for 14 species-—most of them with proposed or final critical habitat. The Service has also issued positive petition findings for more than 450 species and added 25 species to the candidate list.

The settlement agreements require the Fish and Wildlife Service to post a certain number of decisions each year, but we could not dictate the outcome of those decisions. The agency is still responsible for determining which species are warranted and not warranted for protection in accordance with its usual decisionmaking process under the Endangered Species Act. Not surprisingly, some species have been found not warranted for listing, which is disappointing. However, neither WildEarth Guardians nor Center for Biological Diversity are constrained from instantly challenging negative decisions in federal court. Other organizations and individuals may also challenge any of the negative determinations issued for species covered in the settlement agreements.

WildEarth Guardians

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This posting asks important questions about the sp...