Endangered Species Act

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The Endangered Species act regulates the behaviors of federal agencies when interacting with species that are in decline such that they face a risk of extinction, and provides tools for regulating, incenting or disincenting the behaviors of others.

The act begins with "The Congress finds and declares that various species of fish, wildlife and plants in the United States have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation;"

Notes

Vocabulary

This section needs developing. The ESA uses a specific and evolved set of language that is linked to the law, regulatory rules, and implementation.

  • Adverse Modification
  • Baseline
  • Biological Opinion
  • Biological Assessment
  • Critical Habitat
  • Effect Pathways
  • Foreseable Future - "the term foreseeable future extends only so far into the future as the Services can reasonably determine that the conditions potentially posing a danger of extinction in the foreseeable future are probable." (https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2019-17518/p-14)
  • Jeopardy (Likely to Jeopardize)
  • Likely - "more likely than not" [1]
  • Listed Species
  • Take
  • Not Likely to Adversely Affect (NLAA)
  • Physical and Biological Features (PBFs) - the features that occur in specific areas and that are essential to support the life-history needs of the species, including but not limited to, water characteristics, soil type, geological features, sites, prey, vegetation, symbiotic species, or other features. [2]
  • Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives
  • Reasonable and Prudent Measures
  • Viable Salmon Population Parameters (VSPs)