Candidate Conservation | Candidate Conservation Agreements

Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs)

Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs) are voluntary conservation agreements between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (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.

Read our fact sheet on Candidate Conservation Agreements.

San Fernando Valley Spineflower CCA

A tiny plant once believed to be extinct in southern California has a promising future thanks to innovation, perseverance, robust science, and proactive conservation efforts by conservation agencies and a southern California developer. The Service's Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office and Newhall Land and Farming Company, owned by FivePoint Holdings, completed a robust Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) in 2017, conserving more than 1,500 acres within Los Angeles and Ventura counties to support spineflower conservation, establish
plants in new and existing sites, and contribute to long-term management of the species. Learn more.

Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs)

Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) expand on 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 for developing the CCAA program was to address landowner concerns about the potential regulatory implications of having a listed species on their land. The CCAA program specifically targets 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. These assurances are only available to non-federal entities for actions on non-federal lands.

See an example CCAA to restore the island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), a species known only to San Juan Island in northwestern Washington that could soon be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Read our fact sheet on Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances.

Learn more about the Service's policy on Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances.

Combining CCAs and CCAAs

The Service has prepared guidance that combines the use of CCAs and CCAAs to encourage expanded collaborative conservation to help preclude the need to list species occurring on both 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.  [48KB]

Read the Service's policies regarding candidate conservation.

Thunder Basin CCAA/CCA/CA

Sagebrush and shortgrass prairie habitats are becoming increasingly degraded and fragmented due to impacts associated with multiple land uses. In February 2017, members of the Thunder Basin Grassland Prairie Ecosystem Association finalized a programmatic Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, Candidate Conservation Agreement, and a Conservation Agreement intended to achieve demonstrable conservation of sagebrush steppe and shortgrass prairie ecosystems. The species dependent on these habitats in northeastern Wyoming include the greater sage-grouse, sage sparrow, Brewer's sparrow, sage thrasher, mountain plover, ferruginous hawk, burrowing owl, and black-tailed prairie dog. The agreements allow the Association Members to continue their livelihoods while proactively conserving habitat?. In turn, enrolled property owners will be given 30 years of coverage for incidental "take" should the animals ever need to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more.

Partners for Fish and Wildlife

Partners for Fish and Wildlife is a voluntary program administered by the 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 selects 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 the Grants Overview page.

For additional examples of Candidate Conservation Agreements in action, view the Tools for Conservation Partnerships edition of the Endnagered Species Bulletin.