U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Our Endangered Species

Program and How It Works

With Landowners

The Endangered Species Program

conserves endangered and threatened

species and the ecosystems upon which

they depend. As of May 2003, there were

1,263 U.S. species listed as endangered or

threatened, 249 candidate species and 36

species proposed for listing. Conserving

endangered and threatened species is

necessary to preserve our natural

heritage for future generations and to

maintain our quality of life. Conserving

ecosystems benefits all users of

ecosystem resources and is essential to

maintaining our nation’s long term

economic prosperity.

Our Program’s priorities are:

■ Preventing extinction.

■ Recovering species that are listed.

■ Making listing species unnecessary.

■ Providing quality customer service to

Federal, State, and local governments

and private individuals to assist them in

conserving endangered species while

meeting their social and economic

objectives.

Endangered Species Program Elements

■ Through the Candidate

Conservation program, the Service, in

partnership with public agencies,

private organizations, and landowners,

works to reduce the threats to

declining species, and thus avoid

listing. By acting early before a species

becomes imperiled, the Service can

reduce the costs of recovery and

maintain land use flexibility for

landowners.

■ Through the Listing program, the

Service follows Federal rulemaking

procedures and specific ESA

requirements to determine whether to

list a species. A formal peer review

process and an opportunity for public

comment ensure that the Service

obtains the best available scientific

information to support its decisions.

Endangered species are defined by

the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as

those species that are in danger of

extinction throughout all or a

significant portion of their range.

Threatened species are those species

that are likely to become endangered

within the foreseeable future.

When necessary, essential species

habitat is protected through a critical

habitat 

soon after listing. Once listed, the

species is afforded the full range of

protections available under the ESA.

These protections include prohibitions

on killing, harming or otherwise taking

a species as well as restrictions on

import/export to prevent trade-related

declines.

■ Through the Consultation program,

the Service works with private

landowners and other non-Federal

entities to develop Habitat

Conservation Plans that authorize the

incidental take of listed species. The

HCP process allows private economic

development to proceed while

promoting listed species conservation.

Also through this program, the Service

works with other Federal agencies to

ensure that their activities and the

activities they authorize are compatible

with species needs.

■ Through the Recovery program, the

Service develops partnerships with

Federal, State, and local agencies,

tribes, researchers, conservation

organizations, businesses, landowners,

and individuals to conserve listed

species. Recovery efforts include a wide

range of management actions, such as

controlled propagation and habitat

protection and restoration, that reduce

threats or otherwise benefit

populations so they will stabilize and

ultimately increase. A species is

considered for delisting once it

recovers to the point where it no

longer needs the ESA’s special

protections.

Assistance to Landowners

According to a 1993 study by the

Association for Biodiversity

Information and The Nature

Conservancy, half of listed species have at

least 80% of their habitat on private

lands. Because of listed species’

dependence on private lands, private

landowner participation in endangered

species conservation is critical to

successful species recovery. Several

programs provide mechanisms for

increased cooperation with private

landowners, tribes, State and local

governments, industry, and agricultural

interests:

■ The Safe Harbor Policy encourages

voluntary management for listed

species to promote recovery on nonFederal lands by giving assurances to

the landowners that no additional

future regulatory restrictions will be

imposed.

■ The Candidate Conservation

Agreements with Assurances Policy

provides incentives for non-Federal

property owners to conserve candidate

species, thus potentially making listing

unnecessary.

■ Habitat Conservation Planning

allows private landowners to develop

land supporting listed species provided

they undertake conservation

measures. The No Surprises Policy

assures participating landowners that

they will incur no additional mitigation

requirements beyond those they

agreed to in their Habitat

Conservation Plans, even if

circumstances change.

designation at the time of or
Incentive and Grants Programs 

■ The Private Stewardship Program 

($9.9M) provides grants and other 

assistance on a competitive basis to 

individuals and groups engaged in local, 

private, and voluntary conservation 

efforts that benefit federally listed, 

proposed, or candidate species, or other 

at-risk-species. A diverse panel of 

representatives from State and Federal 

government, conservation organizations, 

agriculture and development interests, 

and the science community assess 

applications and make recommendations 

to the Secretary of the Interior, who 

awards the grants. 

■ The Cooperative Endangered Species 

Conservation Fund (section 6 of the 

ESA) provides funding ($80.5M) to States 

and Territories to participate in a wide 

array of conservation projects on nonFederal lands for candidate, proposed 

and listed species. States and Territories 

must contribute 25% of the estimated 

program costs of approved projects, or 

10% when two or more States or 

Territories implement a joint project. A 

State or Territory must enter into a 

cooperative agreement with the Service 

to receive grants. Most States and 

Territories have entered into these 

agreements for both plant and animal 

species. For FY 2003, funding will be 

available to implement conservation 

projects for listed and species at risk 

(Conservation Grants $7.5M); 

integrating habitat conservation into 

local land use planning through 

development of Habitat Conservation 

Plans (Habitat Conservation Planning 

Assistance Grants $6.6M); furthering 

species conservation through acquisition 

of land and easements associated with 

approved Habitat Conservation Plans 

(HCP Land Acquisition Grants 

$51.1M); and acquiring lands essential to 

the recovery of listed species (Recovery 

Land Acquisition Grants $12.7M). 

Looking Ahead 

By building strong partnerships and 

initiating early and collaborative 

conservation efforts, the Service can 

best achieve the purpose of the 

Endangered Species Act to conserve 

endangered and threatened species and 

the ecosystems upon which they depend. 

Contact Us 

Want more information on a 

particular endangered species or to 

enter into a partnership with us? 

Please contact the Regional Office 

which handles the State(s) in which 

you are interested. 

help you, they will gladly direct you 

to the nearest local Service office or in 

the direction you need. 

Washington D.C. Office 

Endangered Species 

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420 

Arlington, VA 22203 

http://endangered.fws.gov 

Chief, Division of Conservation and 

Classification: Christine Nolin, 

703/358 2171 

Chief, Division of Consultation, 

HCPs, Recovery, and State Grants: 

Patrick Leonard, 703/358 2171 

Chief, Division of Partnerships and 

Outreach: Claire Cassel, 703/358 2390 

Region One — Pacific 

Eastside Federal Complex 

911 N.E. 11th Avenue 

Portland OR 

http://pacific.fws.gov 

Chief, Division of Endangered 

Species: Wendi Weber, 503/231 6158 

Region Two — Southwest 

P.O. Box 1306, Rm 4012 

Albuquerque, NM 87102 

http://southwest.fws.gov 

EndangeredSpecies 

Chief, Division of Endangered 

Species: Acting Suart Leon, 

505/248 6657 

Region Three — Great Lakes, Big Rivers 

Bishop Henry Federal Building 

One Federal Drive 

Ft. Snelling, MN 55111-4056 

http://midwest.fws.gov 

Chief, Ecological Services Operations: 

T. J. Miller, 612/713 5334 

Region Four — Southeast 

1875 Century Boulevard 

Suite 200 

Atlanta, GA 30345 

http://southeast.fws.gov 

Chief, Endangered Species: 

Gloria Bell, 404/679 7100 

Region Five — Northeast 

300 Westgate Center Drive 

Hadley, MA 01035-9589 

http://northeast.fws.gov 

Chief, Division of Endangered 

Species: Paul Nickerson, 

413/253 8615 

Region Six — Mountain Prairie 

134 Union Boulevard 

Lakewood CO 80228 

http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov 

Division of Ecological Services: 

Jill Parker, 303/236 7400 Ext. 242 

Region Seven — Alaska 

1011 E. Tudor Road 

Anchorage, AK 99503-6199 

http://alaska.fws.gov 

Division of Endangered Species: 

Sue Detwiler, 907/786 3868 

6 

7 

4 

1 3 5

2 

Puerto Rico & 

U.S. Virgin Islands 

Region 4 

Hawaii 

Region 1 

Alaska 

Region 7 

Regional Office Boundaries 

If they can not 

97232-4181 

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Endangered Species Program 

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420 

Arlington, VA 22203 

703/358 2390 

http://endangered.fws.gov 

May 2003