Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of Interagency Cooperative Policy for the Ecosystem Approach to the Endangered Species Act

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of

Interagency Cooperative Policy for the Ecosystem Approach to the

Endangered Species Act

AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, and National Marine

Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of policy statement.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries

Service (hereafter referred to as Services) announce interagency policy

to incorporate ecosystem considerations in Endangered Species Act

actions regarding listing, interagency cooperation, recovery and

cooperative activities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamie Rappaport Clark, Chief, Division

of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ARLSQ 452, 18th

and C Streets NW., Washington, DC 20240 (telephone 703/358-2171), or

Russell Bellmer, Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine

Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland

20910 (telephone 301/713-2322).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

A primary purpose of the Act (section 2(b)) is ``to provide a means

whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered or threatened species

depend may be conserved. . . .''

Section 5(a) authorizes the establishment and implementation of a

program to conserve fish, wildlife, and plants, including those which

are listed as endangered or threatened. Section 6 authorizes

partnerships with the States to develop cooperative programs for the

conservation of endangered and threatened species. Section 7(a)(1)

obligates all Federal agencies to utilize their authorities to further

the purposes of the Act by carrying out programs for the conservation

of endangered and threatened species. Section 8 encourages partnerships

with foreign countries to provide for conservation of fish or wildlife

and plants. Section 10 conservation planning provides opportunities for

ecosystem-level resource protection with non-federal partners to

address concerns of threatened and endangered species.

Success of ecosystem management will depend on the cooperation of

partners, (federal, state, and private). Setting new internal standards

for teamwork and communication between regions and other agencies will

be emphasized to support an ecosystem approach to species conservation.

Species will be conserved best not by a species-by-species approach but

by an ecosystem conservation strategy that transcends individual

species. The future for endangered and threatened species will be

determined by how well the agencies integrate ecosystem conservation

with the growing need for resource use.

Policy

The purpose of this cooperative policy is to promote healthy

ecosystems through activities undertaken by the Services under

authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, and

associated regulations in Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

In the following endangered species activities, it is the policy of the

Services to incorporate ecosystem considerations in Endangered Species

Act activities in the following manner:

A. Listing

(1) Group listing decisions on a geographic, taxonomic, or

ecosystem basis where possible.

(2) Develop partnerships with other Federal, State, Tribal, and

private agencies to conduct comprehensive status reviews across the

entire range of candidate species.

B. Interagency Cooperation

(1) Develop cooperative approaches to threatened and endangered

species conservation that restore, reconstruct, or rehabilitate the

structure, distribution, connectivity and function upon which those

listed species depend.

C. Recovery

(1) Develop and implement recovery plans for communities or

ecosystems where multiple listed and candidate species occur.

(2) Develop and implement recovery plans for threatened and

endangered species in a manner that restores, reconstructs, or

rehabilitates the structure, distribution, connectivity and function

upon which those listed species depend. In particular, these recovery

plans shall be developed and implemented in a manner that conserves the

biotic diversity (including the conservation of candidate species,

other rare species that may not be listed, unique biotic communities,

etc.) of the ecosystems upon which the listed species depend.

(3) Expand the scope of recovery plans to address ecosystem

conservation by enlisting local jurisdictions, private organizations,

and affected individuals in recovery plan development and

implementation.

(4) Develop and implement agreements among multiple agencies that

allow for sharing of resources and decision making on recovery actions

for wide-ranging species.

D. Cooperative Efforts

(1) Use the authorities of the Act to develop clear, consistent

policies that integrate the mandates of Federal, State, Tribal, and

local governments to prevent species endangerment by protecting,

conserving, restoring, or rehabilitating ecosystems that are important

for conservation of biodiversity.

(2) Integrate research and technology development on conservation

of endangered and threatened species with initiatives for management of

ecosystems that serve many other uses.

(3) Prioritize actions and system monitoring schemes to meet

specific objectives for genetic resources, species populations,

biological communities, and ecological processes through carefully

designed adaptive management strategies.

(4) Integrate ecosystem-based goals of the Endangered Species Act

with existing mandates under other environmental laws, such as the

National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act,

Marine Mammal Protection Act, Magnuson Fishery Conservation and

Management Act, and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act.

Scope of Policy

The scope of this policy is Servicewide for all species of fish and

wildlife and plants, as defined pursuant to section 3 under the Act (16

U.S.C. 1532) and for listing, recovery, land acquisition, interagency

consultation, international cooperation, and permitting programs as

outlined in, and to the extent consistent with the provisions of

sections 4(a)(c), 4(e)(g), 7(a)(c), 8A(c), and 10(a) of the Act,

respectively.

Authority

The authority for this policy is the Endangered Species Act of

1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).

Dated: June 27, 1994.

Mollie H. Beattie,

Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

Dated: June 24, 1994.

Rolland A. Schmitten,

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries

Service.

[FR Doc. 94-16025 Filed 6-30-94; 8:45 am]

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