[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 703/358-2171), or
Russell Bellmer, Chief, Endangered Species Division, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland
20910 (telephone 301/713-2322).
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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