U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Candidate Conservation Agreements

With Assurances For

Non-Federal Property Owners

What is a candidate species?

Candidate species are plants and

animals for which the Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) has sufficient

information on their biological status

and threats to propose them as

endangered or threatened under the

Endangered Species Act, but for which

development of a proposed listing

regulation is precluded by other higher

priority listing activities. The National

Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS),

which has jurisdiction over most

marine species, defines candidate

species more broadly to include species

whose status is of concern but more

information is needed before they can

be proposed for listing.

What are Candidate Conservation

Agreements?

Candidate Conservation Agreements

are formal agreements between the

Service and one or more parties to

address the conservation needs of

proposed or candidate species, or species

likely to become candidates, before they

become listed as endangered or

threatened. The participants voluntarily

commit to implementing specific actions

that will remove or reduce the threats to

these species, thereby contributing to

stabilizing or restoring the species so

that listing is no longer necessary. The

Service has entered into many

Candidate Conservation Agreements

over the years, primarily with other

Federal agencies, State and local

agencies, and conservation

organizations, such as The Nature

Conservancy. Some of these have

successfully removed threats and

listing was avoided.

What are Candidate Conservation

Agreements with Assurances?

Conservation of fish and wildlife

resources on private lands is critical to

maintaining our Nation’s biodiversity.

However, private property owners may

face land use restrictions if species

found on their lands are listed under

the ESA in the future. The potential for

future land use restrictions has led

some property owners to manage their

lands to prevent or discourage

colonization of their property by these

species. One incentive property owners

need to voluntarily promote candidate

conservation on their lands and waters

is future regulatory certainty.

Therefore, the Service and NMFS have

finalized a policy to establish standards

and procedures for developing

Candidate Conservation Agreements

with Assurances for private and other

non-Federal property owners.This final

policy and associated regulations were

published in the Federal Register on

June 17, 1999.

This new approach to Candidate

Conservation Agreements provides

non-Federal property owners who

voluntarily agree to manage their lands

or waters to remove threats to candidate

or proposed species assurances that

their conservation efforts will not result

in future regulatory obligations in excess

of those they agree to at the time they

enter into the Agreement.The Service

would provide technical assistance in

the development of these Agreements.

Property owners may protect and

enhance existing populations and

habitats, restore degraded habitat,

create new habitat, augment existing

populations, restore historic

populations, or undertake other

activities on their lands to improve the

status of candidate or proposed species.

The management activities included in

the Agreement must significantly

contribute to elimination of the need to

list the target species. Although a single

property owner’s activities alone may not

be sufficient to eliminate the need to list,

the activities, if conducted by other

property owners on other necessary

properties throughout the range of the

species, must be sufficient to eliminate

the need to list.

In return for the participant’s proactive

management, the Service and NMFS

provide take authorization through the

section 10(a)(1)(A) process of the ESA,

which authorizes issuance of permits that

will enhance the survival of the species.

The permit would allow participants to

take individuals or modify habitat to

return population levels and habitat

conditions to those agreed upon and

specified in the Agreement.

What species can be included in a

Candidate Conservation Agreement with

Assurances?

Candidate Conservation Agreements

may include plants and animals that

have been proposed for listing or are

candidates for listing. Species that are

likely to become candidate or proposed

species in the near future may also be

included in an Agreement.

In a Candidate Conservation Agreement

with Assurances, what benefits must the

species receive?

The ultimate goal of Candidate

Conservation Agreements is to remove

enough threats to the target species to

eliminate the need for protection under

the ESA. Before entering into a

Candidate Conservation Agreement

and providing regulatory assurances,

the Service must reasonably expect and

make a written finding that the species

included in the Agreement will receive

a sufficient conservation benefit from the

activities conducted under the

Agreement. “Sufficient conservation

benefit” means that the management

actions to be taken would remove the

need to list the covered species, when

combined with actions carried out on

other necessary properties. “Other

necessary properties” are those on

which conservation measures would

have to be implemented in order to

preclude or remove any need to list the

covered species.
Conservation benefits may include

reduction of habitat fragmentation

rates, restoration or enhancement of

habitats, increase in habitat

connectivity, maintenance or increase

of population numbers or distribution,

reduction of the effects of catastrophic

events, establishment of buffers for

protected areas, and areas to test and

develop new and innovative

conservation strategies. Recognizing

that while a species is a candidate, a

property owner is under no obligation

to avoid take, the assessment of

benefits would include consideration

for what the property owner agrees not

to do as well as any enhancement

measures he or she agrees to

undertake. If the Service and the

property owner cannot agree on what

constitutes benefits, the Service would

not enter into the Agreement.

What assurances does the property

owner receive?

The Service will provide assurances

that, in the event a species covered in

the Agreement is subsequently listed

as endangered or threatened, the

Service will not assert additional

restrictions or require additional

actions above those the property owner

voluntarily committed to in the

Agreement. At the time the parties enter

into the Agreement, the Service would

issue an enhancement of survival permit

under section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA

authorizing the property owner to take

individuals or modify habitat to return

the property to the conditions agreed

upon and specified in the Agreement,

provided that the take is at a level

consistent with the overall goal of

precluding the need to list. The effective

date on the permit would be tied to the

date any covered species becomes listed.

What must the Candidate Conservation

Agreement with Assurances include?

The Candidate Conservation

Agreement must include:

■ a description of the population levels (if

available or determinable) of the covered

species existing at the time the parties

negotiate the Agreement; the existing

habitat characteristics that sustain any

current, permanent, or seasonal use by

the covered species on lands or waters

owned by the property owner;

■ a description of the conservation

measures that the property owner is

willing to undertake to conserve the

species covered by the Agreement;

■ an estimate of the expected

conservation benefits as a result of

conservation measures, and the

conditions that the property owner

agrees to maintain;

■ assurances that the Service will not

require additional conservation

measures or impose additional take

restrictions beyond those agreed to if a

covered species is listed in the future;

■ a monitoring provision that may

include measuring and reporting

progress in implementation of the

conservation measures described

above and changes in habitat

conditions and the species’ status

resulting from the measures; and

■ a notification requirement, to provide

the Service or appropriate State

agencies with a reasonable opportunity to

rescue individuals of the covered species

before any authorized take occurs.

Who can participate in a Candidate

Conservation Agreement with

Assurances?

A Candidate Conservation Agreement

with Assurances will involve the

Service, one or more non-Federal

property owners, and possibly other

cooperators. State fish and wildlife

agencies, which have primary

jurisdiction over species that are not

federally listed, may be a cooperator in

any Candidate Conservation Agreement.

Other potential cooperators include

neighboring property owners, State or

local agencies, Tribal governments, or

Federal property owners. Only nonFederal property owners may receive

regulatory assurances under the

Agreement.

Will there be any public notification of

Candidate Conservation Agreements

With Assurances?

As with other section 10 permits, the

Service will publish a notice in the

Federal Register when it receives the

permit application. The Service will

announce receipt and availability of the

application and Agreement and will

accept and consider comments from

the public before making a final

decision on issuance of the permit.

What if I sell my land? Is the CCAA

transferable?

If a property owner who is party to a

Candidate Conservation Agreement

with Assurances transfers ownership

of the lands included in the Agreement,

the Service will regard the new owner

as having the same rights with respect

to the subject lands as the original

property owner if the new property

owner agrees to become part of the

original Agreement.

Whom should I contact to initiate a

Candidate Conservation Agreement?

Interested parties should contact the

nearest Fish and Wildlife Service Field

Office in their State to discuss

potential cooperative opportunities. For

information on the final policy and

regulations, contact our Headquarters

Office at the address below. More

information and office addresses can

also be found by visiting the Service’s

website at http://www.fws.gov.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Endangered Species Program

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420

Arlington, VA 22203

703/358 2105

http://endangered.fws.gov

February 2002

The lesser prairie-chicken is a candidate

species that will benefit from several

Candidate Conservation Agreements

under development in Colorado, Kansas,

New Mexico, Oklahoma and

Texas. Photo by John Shackford