Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs & CCAAs)

Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs) are voluntary conservation agreements between the Service and one or more public or private parties. The Service works with its partners to identify threats to candidate species, plan the measures needed to address the threats and conserve these species, identify willing landowners, develop agreements, and design and implement conservation measures and monitor their effectiveness.

Rare Native Grass Will Benefit from Multi-Agency Agreement Within Big Bend National Park’s stunning and vast landscape, there is a bit of uncommon scenery that rarely garners attention. Guadalupe fescue is a rare grass found only on one site in the United States - at Big Bend National Park in Texas. There are two populations in adjacent Coahuila, Mexico. The grass is a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection. Recently the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) prepared a Candidate Conservation Agreement to cooperate on the conservation of Guadalupe fescue. Signatories to the agreement include Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and the Service’s Austin Ecological Services Field Office. The Candidate Conservation Agreement advocates a number of actions to conserve Guadalupe fescue and minimize threats. If successfully and fully implemented, it may be possible to remove the plant from the candidate list. The agreement calls for monitoring the known population, establishing a conservation team of experts for the species, educating staff and visitors, monitoring and controlling exotic plants and animals. The plan also calls for cooperating with Mexico to conserve its known populations and search for new ones. Studies to determine the possible need for prescribed burns or other management activities to maintain and improve habitat will be conducted. The agreement also calls for performing genetic studies. The federal agencies will cooperate to seek funding for the additional studies. The current agreement builds upon one signed between the same parties in 1998 that expired in 2005. Guadalupe fescue is native to isolated mountain ranges in western Texas and northern Coahuila, Mexico. It was first found at one location in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in 1931 and at one location in Big Bend National Park later the same year. It has not been found in the Guadalupe Mountains for many years.

Guadalupe fescue, photo by Jackie Poole, TX Parks & Wildlife Dept

The Louisiana pine snake CCA is a multi-party conservation agreement that covers existing and potential longleaf pine habitat for this rare reptile in the Service’s Southwest and Southeast Regions. This CCA establishes a framework for cooperation and participation in management and protection for the Louisiana pine snake on National Forest lands in both Texas and Louisiana, on the Fort Polk Military Reservation in Louisiana, and on certain private lands in Texas and Louisiana. Additional cooperators include the U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Research Station, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Photo by Dan Saenz, US Forest Service

Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) expand upon the success of traditional CCAs by providing non-Federal landowners with additional incentives for engaging in voluntary proactive conservation through assurances that limit future conservation obligations. One of the primary reasons why the Service developed the CCAA program is because of a concern by landowners about the potential regulatory implications of having a listed species on their land. The CCAA program is specifically targeted for non-Federal landowners and provides them with the assurance that if they implement various conservation activities, they will not be subject to additional restrictions if the species becomes listed under the ESA. The assurances are only available non-Federal entities for actions on non-Federal lands.

photo by J.R. Shute, CFI The yellowcheek darter programmatic CCAA is a multi-party conservation agreement that covers the entire range of the species (approximately 560,000 acres).  The yellowcheek darter is a small fish that inhabits riffles in the four forks of the upper Little Red River watershed in Arkansas.  The CCAA is concurrent with a programmatic SafeHarbor Agreement that covers the federally endangered speckled pocketbook, a freshwater mussel that also is endemic to the same watershed.  Parties to the agreement include the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  These parties to the agreement enroll private landowners into the agreement using Certificates of Inclusion.  The CCAA establishes a framework for cooperation and participation in management and protection for much more than just the yellowcheek darter.  It enables resource managers to recover these and other imperiled species, ensure that these streams remain a viable fisheries for sportsman fishing for species such as smallmouth bass, and will improve and protect water quality in the watershed.

The Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Programmatic CCAA covers habitat for the species on non-Federal lands in four counties encompassing the historical range of the species. Parties to the Agreement include the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation, and the Service. Private landowners are participating in the CCAA through Certificates of Inclusion.

Photo by Justin Barrett

An example of another recent CCAA is Adams Cave Beetle CCAA.

Combining CCAs and CCAAs
The Service has prepared guidance that combines the use of Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs) and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) to encourage expanded collaborative conservation to help preclude the need to list species that occur on a mix of Federal and non-Federal lands. This guidance was developed in response to the request of non-Federal property owners and has the potential to provide greater certainty that if a species becomes listed despite their efforts, they will not be required to make significant additional changes in their activities on Federal or non-Federal lands. See Using Existing Tools to Expand Cooperative Conservation for Candidate Species Across Federal and Non-Federal Lands [PDF].

Partners for Fish and Wildlife
Partners for Fish and Wildlife is a voluntary program administered of the Fish and Wildlife Service to help protect, enhance and restore wildlife habitat on privately owned (non-Federal) lands by providing landowners with technical and financial assistance to restore fish and wildlife habitats in partnership with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, educational institutions, businesses, and conservation organizations. With information from the Candidate Conservation Program, the Partners Program is selecting candidate species that would benefit from their expertise and resources. For more information, go to www.fws.gov/partners.

For additional information on grants, go to http://www.fws.gov/endangered/grants/index.html