Without adequate funding, burdens are unfairly placed on local communities and owners of private property. At the same time states are encountering delays in construction projects under the new highway act, because the federal agencies do not have the personnel to conduct the necessary consultations before bridges and roads can be built in affected watersheds. The ESA needs a clear methodology for delisting recovered species. Even when actual recovery has occurred, species frequently are not delisted. To delist a species, the entire costly process that the act requires for listing a species must be done in reverse.
States possess broad trustee, police powers and primacy over fish and wildlife within their borders.
With the exception of marine mammals, states retain concurrent jurisdiction even where Congress has directed specific federal authority, as in the case of endangered species. Such consultation is largely optional under the current scheme and has been provided erratically. This scenario has prevented the sharing of scientific information and the consideration of state-based information. How decisions are made under the act is often unclear and, as a result, many individuals and organizations affected by the act question the science upon which decisions are made. Implementation of the following recommendations will improve the effectiveness of the act by making it more workable and understandable.