94-16025. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of Interagency Cooperative Policy for the Ecosystem Approach to the Endangered Species Act

[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 126 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16025]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants: Notice of 
Interagency Cooperative Policy for the Ecosystem Approach to the 
Endangered Species Act

AGENCIES: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior, and National Marine 
Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA), Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of policy statement.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries 
Service (hereafter referred to as Services) announce interagency policy 
to incorporate ecosystem considerations in Endangered Species Act 
actions regarding listing, interagency cooperation, recovery and 
cooperative activities.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 1994.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamie Rappaport Clark, Chief, Division 
of Endangered Species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ARLSQ 452, 18th 
and C Streets NW., Washington, DC 20240 (telephone [phone]), or 
Russell Bellmer, Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine 
Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland 
20910 (telephone [phone]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    A primary purpose of the Act (section 2(b)) is ``to provide a means 
whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered or threatened species 
depend may be conserved. . . .''
    Section 5(a) authorizes the establishment and implementation of a 
program to conserve fish, wildlife, and plants, including those which 
are listed as endangered or threatened. Section 6 authorizes 
partnerships with the States to develop cooperative programs for the 
conservation of endangered and threatened species. Section 7(a)(1) 
obligates all Federal agencies to utilize their authorities to further 
the purposes of the Act by carrying out programs for the conservation 
of endangered and threatened species. Section 8 encourages partnerships 
with foreign countries to provide for conservation of fish or wildlife 
and plants. Section 10 conservation planning provides opportunities for 
ecosystem-level resource protection with non-federal partners to 
address concerns of threatened and endangered species.
    Success of ecosystem management will depend on the cooperation of 
partners, (federal, state, and private). Setting new internal standards 
for teamwork and communication between regions and other agencies will 
be emphasized to support an ecosystem approach to species conservation. 
Species will be conserved best not by a species-by-species approach but 
by an ecosystem conservation strategy that transcends individual 
species. The future for endangered and threatened species will be 
determined by how well the agencies integrate ecosystem conservation 
with the growing need for resource use.

Policy

    The purpose of this cooperative policy is to promote healthy 
ecosystems through activities undertaken by the Services under 
authority of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), as amended, and 
associated regulations in Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 
In the following endangered species activities, it is the policy of the 
Services to incorporate ecosystem considerations in Endangered Species 
Act activities in the following manner:
A. Listing
    (1) Group listing decisions on a geographic, taxonomic, or 
ecosystem basis where possible.
    (2) Develop partnerships with other Federal, State, Tribal, and 
private agencies to conduct comprehensive status reviews across the 
entire range of candidate species.
B. Interagency Cooperation
    (1) Develop cooperative approaches to threatened and endangered 
species conservation that restore, reconstruct, or rehabilitate the 
structure, distribution, connectivity and function upon which those 
listed species depend.
C. Recovery
    (1) Develop and implement recovery plans for communities or 
ecosystems where multiple listed and candidate species occur.
    (2) Develop and implement recovery plans for threatened and 
endangered species in a manner that restores, reconstructs, or 
rehabilitates the structure, distribution, connectivity and function 
upon which those listed species depend. In particular, these recovery 
plans shall be developed and implemented in a manner that conserves the 
biotic diversity (including the conservation of candidate species, 
other rare species that may not be listed, unique biotic communities, 
etc.) of the ecosystems upon which the listed species depend.
    (3) Expand the scope of recovery plans to address ecosystem 
conservation by enlisting local jurisdictions, private organizations, 
and affected individuals in recovery plan development and 
implementation.
    (4) Develop and implement agreements among multiple agencies that 
allow for sharing of resources and decision making on recovery actions 
for wide-ranging species.
D. Cooperative Efforts
    (1) Use the authorities of the Act to develop clear, consistent 
policies that integrate the mandates of Federal, State, Tribal, and 
local governments to prevent species endangerment by protecting, 
conserving, restoring, or rehabilitating ecosystems that are important 
for conservation of biodiversity.
    (2) Integrate research and technology development on conservation 
of endangered and threatened species with initiatives for management of 
ecosystems that serve many other uses.
    (3) Prioritize actions and system monitoring schemes to meet 
specific objectives for genetic resources, species populations, 
biological communities, and ecological processes through carefully 
designed adaptive management strategies.
    (4) Integrate ecosystem-based goals of the Endangered Species Act 
with existing mandates under other environmental laws, such as the 
National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, 
Marine Mammal Protection Act, Magnuson Fishery Conservation and 
Management Act, and Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act.

Scope of Policy

    The scope of this policy is Servicewide for all species of fish and 
wildlife and plants, as defined pursuant to section 3 under the Act (16 
U.S.C. 1532) and for listing, recovery, land acquisition, interagency 
consultation, international cooperation, and permitting programs as 
outlined in, and to the extent consistent with the provisions of 
sections 4(a)(c), 4(e)(g), 7(a)(c), 8A(c), and 10(a) of the Act, 
respectively.

Authority

    The authority for this policy is the Endangered Species Act of 
1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531-1544).

    Dated: June 27, 1994.
Mollie H. Beattie,
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

    Dated: June 24, 1994.
Rolland A. Schmitten,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service.
[FR Doc. 94-16025 Filed 6-30-94; 8:45 am]
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