Endangered Species

Delays by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in listing six species as either threatened or endangered were due to several factors, the most common of which were FWS concerns about the sufficiency of biological data and concerns about potential economic and other impacts. GAO found that the conservation agreements for the Bruneau Hot Springsnail and the Jemez Mountains salamander were inconsistent with FWS policy and guidance. Whether a conservation agreement is an appropriate means of protecting species that would otherwise warrant listing is a decision for FWS to make. On the basis of its findings, however, GAO concludes that a conservation agreement, if it is to be an effective alternative to listing, should (1) address known threats to a species that would otherwise warrant listing, (2) provide for monitoring to ensure that the agreement's mechanisms for protecting the species are properly and fully implemented, and (3) be implemented in a timely manner.

GAO found that: (1) questions about biological data on the size and distribution of the species' populations, the genetic uniqueness of the species, and the nature of threats to the species' existence have delayed FWS listing decisions from 5 months to 6 years; (2) entities outside of FWS have raised concerns about the potential adverse impact of a listing on ongoing or planned activities in areas containing habitat for the species; and (3) FWS development of conservation agreements has contributed to delays in listing decisions for some of the species.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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