U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Candidate Species

Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act

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 (ESA), 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 protection does the ESA provide to

candidate species?

Candidate species receive no statutory

protection under the ESA. However, the

Service encourages the formation of

partnerships to conserve these species

because they are by definition species

that may warrant future protection under

the ESA.

How do species become candidates?

Identification of potential candidates is a

cooperative effort. The Service’s

Endangered Species specialists work

closely with staff from other Service

resource programs, such as fisheries,

refuges, and migratory birds, as well as

representatives of other Federal and

State natural resource agencies, local and

Tribal governments, business and

industry, academia, conservation

organizations, and other private interests

to identify potential candidate species.

The Association for Biodiversity

Information’s Natural Heritage Central

Databases system, which ranks species’

status at State, National, and global levels

based on their relative imperilment, also is

an important tool for identifying potential

candidate species. Called NatureServe®,

this database is available via the Internet at

http://www.natureserve.org. It provides

information on more than 50,000 plants,

animals, and ecological communities of the

U. S. and Canada.

When sufficient information is developed to

make well documented, biologically sound

determinations about a species’ status, the

Service’s Field Offices consider whether it

meets the criteria for listing under the

ESA. The Service’s Regional Offices then

provide recommendations for additions to

the candidate list to the Service’s Director,

whose concurrence is necessary before a

species becomes an official candidate

species. Species are assigned a listing

priority from 1 to 12 based on the

magnitude of threats they face, the

immediacy of the threats, and taxonomic

uniqueness (for example, full species

have higher priority than subspecies).

The species’ listing priority dictates the

relative order in which proposed listing

rules are prepared, with the species at

greatest risk (listing priority 1 through 3)

being proposed first.

How does the public know what species

are candidates for listing?

The Service annually publishes a Notice of

Review in the Federal Register that

provides an updated list of plants and

animals native to the United States that

are regarded as candidates for possible

listing. While there is no requirement

under the ESA to publish such a list, the

Service believes that it is important to

advise other Federal agencies, State and

Tribal governments, local governments,

industry, and the public of those species

that are at risk and may warrant ESA

protection. Advance notice of potential

ESA listings can assist environmental

planning efforts allowing resource

managers to alleviate threats and thereby

possibly remove the need to list these taxa.

In publishing the candidate species list, the

Service also solicits any new information

that may be available on the biology, status,

and distribution of and threats to these

species or other potential candidates.

NMFS periodically publishes in the

Federal Register a list of the species it

regards as candidates.

How many species are currently

candidates for listing?

As of February 12, 2002, 246 species were

candidates for listing and 42 species were

proposed for listing.

What is the advantage of conserving

species that are already candidates or

proposed for listing?

An effective program for the conservation

of endangered species requires a means of

addressing species that have not yet been

listed but that face immediate, identifiable

risks. Early conservation preserves

management options, minimizes the cost of

recovery, and reduces the potential for

restrictive land use policies in the future.

Addressing the needs of species before the

regulatory restrictions associated with

listed species come into play often allows

greater management flexibility to stabilize

or restore these species and their habitats.

In addition, as threats are reduced and

populations are increased or stabilized,

priority for listing can be shifted to those

species in greatest need of the ESA’s

protective measures. Ideally, sufficient

threats can be removed to eliminate the

need for listing.

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

In Arizona and

New Mexico,

conservation

measures for

Gooding’s onion

on ApacheSitgraves

National Forest,

Gila National

Forest, and

Lincoln National

Forest precluded

the need to list

the candidate

species.

Gooddings onion,

Photo by Reggie

Fletcher, U.S.

Forest Service