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Key ESA Activities
This section describes the scientific analysis and policy decisions that NOAA Fisheries undertakes under the ESA to guide management actions for listed species.
For Columbia Basin fish, ESA science and policy includes research on the status of the stocks and risks, or limiting factors, to their continued health. NOAA conducts this analysis and decides when to list a stock and when a stock has recovered sufficiently to be taken off the endangered species list. NOAA also sets policies for elements of the ESA such as designating critical habitat for listed species. These science and policy actions are the foundation for the ultimate recovery of listed species under ESA.
Once a stock is listed, the federal action agencies produce a Proposed Action that describes what they will do to help protect it. NOAA reviews the PA and issues a Biological Opinion on whether the PA will actually result in no jeopardy to the continued existence of the species. Planning and implementation of the BiOp then becomes a component of recovery of the species.
With the federal actions in place to avoid jeopardy, recovery of an ESA-listed species begins to involve actions from a much wider group. Under ESA, recovery is a broad-based effort that includes actions taken by States, local governments, private landowners, tribes and others - as well as the federal government - over the long-term.
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Key ESA Activities
