Navigating the sometimes confusing language of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act can be a daunting prospect for Federal agencies and their constituents.  As a result, our Service's Ecological Field staff are often inundated with calls for technical assistance.  

Couple this with declining budgets and staff, there was a need to improve the efficiency of the section 7 consultation process.  Recognition of these two needs led our Midwest Region to post a self-help website to guide agencies and their applicants through the Section 7 informal consultation process. The idea is to give agencies and applicants the option of fulfilling their Section 7 obligations without having to contact a field office, if they prefer.

End-of-year reporting activity confirms the success of the site:  Nearly 40 percent of the Midwest Region's FY2007 technical assistance requests were handled by the website.

The website includes an explanation of the Section 7 consultation process; step-by-step instructions for working-through of the informal consultation process; species' distribution lists featuring all endangered, threatened, proposed and candidate species, and proposed and designated critical habitat by county; basic life history information on all featured species; species-specific Section 7 guidance and conservation measures for some of the species; and sample letters for documenting "no effect" and requesting concurrence for "not likely to adversely affect" findings.

Visitors to the website can see a schematic explaining the process, and then work their way through three steps to complete informal consultation. At each step, visitors can link to other useful pages, including ES field offices, additional Section 7 guidance, and sample letters and templates. Unusual terms are highlighted, and visitors can click on these for explanations and additional information. At any point, users can contact an Ecological Services field office for direct assistance.

The Midwest Region also provides a self-help website to assist constituents and stakeholders in complying with Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.  The site can be found at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/guidelines/index.html.