News Stories

Today the Service rolled out a greatly improved National Wetlands Mapper, which will allow the public and our diverse partners from industry, state, federal and local governments, and conservation groups to better understand and sustainably manage the nation's wetlands. The upgrade represents a dramatic improvement in the tools' ability to measure potential impacts to wetlands, track contaminants, and identify wildlife habitats and corridors. The latter is key to addressing wildlife impacts of climate change.

Wetlands are home to countless wildlife and imperiled species, offer recreational opportunities and protect against flooding. They also ensure clean water by removing excess nutrients, toxic substances and sediments from the waters that flow through them. By the mid-1980s America had lost almost half of its original wetlands.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced recipients of the 2015 Recovery Champion award, which honors Service employees and partners for outstanding efforts to conserve and protect endangered and threatened species of fish, wildlife, and plants. Altogether, 34 individuals and teams were honored as Recovery Champions for work to conserve species ranging from the polar bear, Columbia white-tail deer and Houston toad.

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The 11th annual international Endangered Species Day will be celebrated on May 20, 2016, with special events and programs that recognize our nation's efforts to conserve and protect America's most imperiled species.

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In 2006, eight federal agencies developed and came to a consensus on a shared vision of how infrastructure development and ecosystem conservation can be integrated to harmonize economic, environmental, and social needs and objectives; documented and signed-off on that vision in Eco-Logical: An Ecosystem Approach to Developing Infrastructure Projects; and placed it into practice. Since then, the eight Eco-Logical signatory agencies have all strived to implement a landscape-scale approach.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Endangered Species Coalition, Association of Zoos and Aquariums and International Child Art Foundation proudly announce the winners of the 2016 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest.

The contest is an integral part of the 11th annual national Endangered Species Day, which will take place on May 20, 2016. It engages school children in grades K-12 in expressing their appreciation for our nation's most imperiled wildlife, and promotes national awareness of the importance of saving endangered species.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries today proposed revisions to the Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) policy under the Endangered Species Act. The revisions, which do not change requirements of participating landowners, will simplify the process of developing and approving CCAAs, which provide incentives for the public to implement specific conservation measures for declining species before they are listed under the ESA. The Service is also proposing changes to its CCAA regulations to make them consistent with the proposed changes to the policy.

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In consideration of feedback from the public and stakeholder groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services) have revised their proposed improvements to the regulations governing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) petitioning process. The regulations guide how species are petitioned for listing, delisting or reclassification under the ESA, and how critical habitat is petitioned for revision. The proposed changes are designed to improve the quality of petitions the Service receives and promote better coordination with state wildlife agencies.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is revising a proposed rule to list the scarlet macaw under the Endangered Species Act and reopening the comment period for 60 days. Threats to this neotropical parrot species include deforestation, habitat degradation and poaching for the pet trade. The existing laws and regulations are inadequate to address these ongoing threats.

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NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reclassified green sea turtles, which occur globally, into 11 distinct population segments under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). All green sea turtles will remain protected under the ESA, and the revised listing will help ensure more effective conservation and recovery efforts. Due in part to the work of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, diverse stakeholders and special places like Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, green sea turtles in Florida will now be listed as threatened instead of endangered.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has completed initial reviews of 29 petitions to list, delist or reclassify species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Thirteen of these petitions to list species and two to delist species do not present substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. The Service will take no further actions on these petitions. The 16 substantial findings in this batch represent only the first step in a rigorous process by which we will ultimately determine whether the species warrants listing, delisting or reclassification under the ESA.

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The Service celebrated another Endangered Species Act success today, this time for a famous bear of the South. Thanks to the efforts of states, private landowners, universities and non-profit organizations, the Louisiana black bear – inspiration for the teddy bear – has made a remarkable recovery since being listed in 1992. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, Service Director Dan Ashe, state leaders and others made the announcement at the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced new actions to mitigate the adverse impacts of land and water development on America's wildlife and their habitats. A revision of the Service's Mitigation Policy, which has guided agency recommendations to address these issues since 1981, will provide a broad and flexible framework to facilitate conservation that addresses the potential negative effects of development, while allowing economic activity to continue.

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In response to the successful recovery of one of America's most cherished animals, the Service has proposed delisting grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from the Endangered Species Act. For decades, the Service has worked hand in hand with states, landowners and diverse partners to effectively address primary threats to the grizzly. As a result, Yellowstone grizzly populations have been stable for more than a decade and the ecosystem is now at or near carrying capacity for the bears.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have updated a long-standing policy on the role of state fish and wildlife agencies in implementing the Endangered Species Act. The updated policy re-affirms the commitment of the Services in collaborating with state agencies to more effectively implement the ESA and protect America's imperiled wildlife.

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Representing the fastest-ever recovery of a mammal in the history of the Endangered Species Act in the U.S., the Service has proposed delisting three subspecies of fox native to the California Channel Islands. The recovery of foxes on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands is not only an unprecedented ESA success, but underscores the critical role of Service partnerships in recovering species. The Service also proposed downlisting the fox population on Santa Catalina Island from Endangered to Threatened.

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Building on the success of the Obama Administration in improving regulations and in implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in new and innovative ways, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the Services) today finalized a policy and two rules that will provide a clearer, more consistent and predictable process for designating critical habitat.

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The 2016 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest is open for submissions. The competition, an integral part of the 11th annual national Endangered Species Day celebration, provides school children in grades K through 12 an opportunity to learn about threatened and endangered wildlife while expressing their knowledge and support for conservation efforts through their artistic and creative talents.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reopening the public comment period on a proposed rule to remove the scarlet-chested parakeet and the turquoise parakeet from the list of endangered species. The agency is taking this action to offer interested parties an opportunity to comment on whether removing these species is still warranted and to ensure our determination is based on the best information available.

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In an effort to conserve the northern long-eared bat, the Service announced a final rule today that uses the flexibilities of the Endangered Species Act to protect areas affected by white-nose syndrome, the primary threat to the bat. The rule will also minimize regulatory requirements on activities by landowners, land managers, government agencies and others within the species' range that do not impact northern long-eared bat populations.

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