Commonly Asked Questions About the Endangered Species Act

. Simply stated, the Endangered Species Act is the most powerful environmental law ever enacted.
Originally adopted in 1973, the Act's framers envisioned a law which would protect species believed to be on the brink of extinction. When the law was enacted, there were 109 species listed for protection. Today, there are roughly 1,300 on the list, with 250 species considered as "Candidates" for listing, and nearly 4,000 species designated as "Species of Concern".

Is it true that the ESA has expired?
The authorization for funding under the ESA expired on October 1, 1992, though Congress has appropriated funds in each succeeding fiscal year to keep the program running.

Have any species ever been delisted?
Unfortunately, the ESA has failed at recovering and delisting species since it's inception. Only 25 domestic species have been "delisted" or removed from the species list since 1973 — seven due to extinction and twelve due to "data error" (read: "never should have been listed in the first place"), and the remaining species benefitting from other activities such as the banning of DDT.

How can the ESA be improved?
NESARC has long championed making constructive changes to the Act which will allow it to work better both for the people who have to work with the law and the species who depend upon it. NESARC is recommending that changes be made in seven broad areas of the law.

Who administers the ESA?
The Endangered Species Act is administered primarily by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but the National Marine Fisheries Service has responsibility for protecting certain marine and anadromous fish species.

What is the difference between an endangered species and a threatened species?
Under the ESA, certain species of plants and animals (both vertebrate and invertebrate) are listed as either "endangered" or "threatened" according to assessments of the risk of their extinction. Once a species is listed, powerful legal tools are brought to bear to enforce the recovery of the species and protection of its habitat. A species may be classified for protection as "endangered" when it is in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. A "threatened" classification is provided to those animals and plants likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges.

What is a species?
A species includes any species or subspecies of fish, wildlife, or plant; any variety of plant; and any distinct population segment of any vertebrate species that interbreeds when mature. Excluded is any species of the Class Insecta determined by the Secretary to constitute a pest whose protection under the provisions of the Act would present an overwhelming and overriding risk to man.

How does a species get listed?
The government relies largely upon petitions, surveys conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies' surveys, and other substantiated reports on field studies. Anyone may petition the Service to have a species listed or reclassified as endangered or threatened, or removed from the list. Findings are required before any proposal is published in the Federal Register.


Within 90 days of receiving a petition, the Service must make a finding as to whether the petition presents substantial information that the listing may be warranted.
Within 1 year of receipt, a finding is required that the listing is either warranted or not warranted.
A finding of warranted must lead directly to an immediate (less than 30 days) proposed listing, or the Service can find that such an immediate proposal is precluded by other listing activities such that the proposal may not be made for several additional weeks, months or even years. In order to make this secondary finding of warranted but precluded the Service must also be making expeditious progress in its overall listing program (e.g., candidates of higher priority are taken first).
Any warranted but precluded finding must be re-examined on each successive anniversary of the petition's receipt until the listing is either proposed or the petition is turned down as not warranted.

What is the criteria for listing?
A species is only determined to be an endangered species or a threatened species because of any one or more of the following factors (economics or others not listed here are not permissible under the Act):

the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range;
overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
disease or predation;
the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or
other natural or man-made factors affecting its continued existence.

Can I see a copy of the ESA on-line?
Yes. The Fish and Wildlife Service has provided this copy of the Endangered Species Act to on-line visitors.
What if I have more questions?
Feel free to contact NESARC via e-mail or call us at 202-333-7481.