Listing and Critical Habitat | Critical Habitat
The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 specifically for the protection of the endangered Florida manatee. The refuge preserves the warm water spring havens, which provide critical habitat for the manatee populations that migrate here each winter.
Photo credit: David Hinkel
When a species is proposed for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) must consider whether there are areas of habitat believed to be essential to the species' conservation. Those areas may be proposed for designation as critical habitat.
If critical habitat is designated, does that mean no further land development can occur in that area?
No. A critical habitat designation does not necessarily restrict further development. A designation requires Federal agencies to ensure that actions they plan to undertake, fund, or authorize do not destroy or adversely modify that habitat.
Does a critical habitat designation affect all activities that occur within the designated area?
No. Only activities that involve a federal permit, license, or funding, and that may affect the area of critical habitat will be affected. If this is the case, the Service will work with the federal agency and, where appropriate, private or other landowners to amend their project to allow it to proceed without adversely modifying the critical habitat. Thus, most federal projects are likely to go forward, but some could be modified to minimize harm to critical habitat.
Find answers to other frequently asked questions regarding critical habitat.
On December 17, 2020, the Service announced final revisions to its regulations for designating critical habitat, setting forth a process for excluding particular areas following a discretionary exclusion analysis.
On December 15, 2020, the Service and National Marine Fisheries Service jointly announced the final regulatory definition of "habitat."
See how many species have been designated with critical habitat.
Access an online mapping application that displays designated spatial information for selected critical habitat.
View the status of critical habitat actions (historical logs of the actions that propose, finalize, withdraw or change critical habitat designations for a species) within a specified date range.