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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal flood insurance program that also aims to prevent flooding in flood-prone areas. However, the structure and implementation of the NFIP has created mixed results. FEMA's implementation of the NFIP has been found to inadvertently incentivize unsustainable floodplain development, which in turn threatens species and their habitats protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Over the years, FEMA has engaged in lawsuits and settlements regarding its implementation of the NFIP. As a result of these lawsuits, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) conducted scientific studies, known as biological opinions (BiOp), which found that three particular components of FEMA's implementation of the NFIP are at the root of FEMA's ESA-noncompliance issues. Additionally, one of these lawsuits resulted in a settlement which required FEMA to conduct a Nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (NPEIS), a tool that comes from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), evaluating the environmental impacts of the NFIP. The NPEIS was published in November 2017. In the NPEIS, FEMA asserts that its implementation of the NFIP does not impact floodplain development, and that the agency is compliant with the ESA. Accordingly, in the NPEIS, FEMA suggests four alternatives to the way the NFIP is currently implemented. Then, in May 2018, FEMA issued the Record of Decision (ROD), which finalizes FEMA's decision to implement the NPEIS's Preferred Alternative. The Preferred Alternative requires NFIP communities, meaning state and local governments, to "obtain and maintain documentation" of ESA compliance as a condition to issue floodplain development permits. This Comment provides an overview of the NFIP, the ESA, the litigation and consultation history, the NPEIS, the ROD, and makes three conclusions: (1) FEMA's imposition of ESA requirements on state and local governments is an impermissible shift of its own ESAresponsibilities onto parties who have no legal obligation to comply with the ESA; (2) FEMA lacks the authority to enforce its preferred alternative under the existing regulation; and (3) the ESA compliance requirement of the alternatives is a significant burden on NFIP communities. Based on these conclusions, FEMA's implementation of its Preferred Alternative is unwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on issue of overfishing arose in the mid-1900s after the industrialization of the fishing industry including the highly migratory Pacific Bluefin Tuna ("PBT"). It mentions several environmental groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, petitioned the Secretary of Commerce through National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to list the PBT as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It also mentions purpose of the ESA is to conserve species.

Abstract Amid rapid population growth, the fate of many threatened and endangered (T&E) species in the Southeast is closely tied to conservation actions on private lands. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the public values wildlife and public attitudes toward T&E species and management approaches, such as Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) - a voluntary approach for private landowners to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We conducted a mail survey to examine attitudes toward T&E species and HCPs, as well as wildlife value orientations (WVOs), among the general public in four study locations in the Southeast: Charlotte Co. (FL), Cumberland Co. (TN), the Etowah Watershed (GA), and the Lower Flint River Basin (GA). Overall, respondent attitudes toward T&E species and the ESA were positive. However, respondents did not believe the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would make good decisions regarding endangered species management without public input. Species attitudes, WVOs and ESA knowledge were all significant influences on public support for the ESA; and species attitudes, beliefs about involvement of local communities, and support for the ESA significantly influenced perceptions about HCPs. We conclude that HCPs represent an opportunity to capitalize on support for T&E species and rebuild trust in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by engaging the public in endangered species management. Highlights • Threatened and endangered species attitudes influence support for the Endangered Species Act. • Limited trust exists that federal agencies make good decisions absent public input. • Agencies could build trust by engaging the public in endangered species management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 continues to be the subject of intense political acrimony. Opponents believe the law is a failure and call for significant changes, whereas proponents resist changes and argue for more funding to implement the statute. We suggest the law has been successful in meeting its core mission of preventing human-caused extinctions, but there are significant challenges with how the law is applied that limit its success. We recommend improvements in implementation that could lessen political controversy while making the act a more effective tool for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atlantic Sturgeon Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as five Distinct Population Segments (DPS). Subadult Atlantic Sturgeon are highly migratory in coastal waters and often move to non-natal estuaries where they encounter a variety of anthropogenic disturbances that may compromise their survival. The Hudson River estuary hosts large numbers of subadult Atlantic Sturgeon seasonally, but their DPS and population origin is unknown. We used microsatellite DNA analysis at 11 loci and sequence analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region in Individual Based Assignment testing to determine the origin of 148 subadult Atlantic Sturgeon that were collected in the tidal Hudson River estuary between river kilometers (RKM)5 and RKM 124 north of the Battery in New York City (RKM 0). We also determined the origin of eight dead specimens (subadults and adults) that were likely victims of vessel strikes and found floating between RKM27 and RKM60. We determined that 142 of 148 subadults assigned to the Hudson River (New York Bight DPS), the vast majority (138 of 142) with at least 95%, and usually, 100%, probability. All eight dead specimens assigned to the Hudson River with greater than 99% probability. Of the six subadult specimens that did not assign to the Hudson, two each assigned to the Kennebec River (Gulf of Maine DPS) and Delaware River (New York Bight DPS), one to the Ogeechee River (South Atlantic DPS), and one to the James River (Chesapeake Bay DPS). Our analysis allows the effects of anthropogenic threats in the Hudson River to be apportioned to the DPS and natal river populations of Atlantic Sturgeon found there and serves as a model for genetic population composition analysis for subadult Atlantic Sturgeon in other impacted estuaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) employs regulations to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitat on private lands. Complying with ESA regulations can cause economic losses for private landowners; failure to comply can result in fines and imprisonment. Current policies may create an economic disincentive for maintaining habitat for listed species on private lands, thus undermining the very purpose of the ESA. This study examined a purposive sample of key family forest landowners' perspectives on the ESA. An electronic survey was administered to members of national and state forestry organizations across the United States (N = 928). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that respondents' attitudes toward the ESA, private property norms, and past behavior were significant predictors of their behavioral intention to participate in potential incentive programs. Results revealed key family forest landowners' perspectives on species conservation, with implications for future policy changes that could lead to more effective protection of listed species in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service promulgated several new rules clarifying and expanding several facets of the Endangered Species Act. Two rules in particular could potentially help the polar bear by expanding its designated Critical Habitat and escalating the Endangered Species Act's Consultation Requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses efforts to protect endangered species as of 2018. Particular focus is given to how spending for organisms protected under the U.S. Endangered Species act is misdirected. Additional topics discussed include how human activity is putting Canada's Woodland Caribou in danger, the negative environmental impact of the oil and gas industry, and the triage approach to endangered species protection.

Abstract: Snakes represent a sizable fraction of vertebrate biodiversity, but until recently, data on their demography have been sparse. Consequently, generalizations regarding patterns of variation are weak and the potential for population projections is limited. We address this information gap through an analysis of spatial and temporal variation in demography (population size, annual survival, and realized population growth) of the Lake Erie Watersnake, Nerodia sipedon insularum, and a review of snake survival more generally. Our study spans a period during which the Lake Erie Watersnake was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, recovered, and was delisted. We collected capture–mark–recapture data at 14 study sites over 20 years, accruing 20,000 captures of 13,800 individually marked adults. Lake Erie Watersnakes achieve extraordinary abundance, averaging 520 adults per km of shoreline (ca. 260 adult per ha) at our study sites (range = 160–1,600 adults per km; ca. 80–800 adults per ha) and surpassing population recovery and postdelisting monitoring criteria. Annual survival averages 0.68 among adult females and 0.76 among adult males, varies among sites, and is positively correlated with body size among study sites. Temporal process variance in annual survival is low, averaging 0.0011 or less than 4% of total variance; thus, stochasticity in annual survival may be of minor significance to snake extinction risk. Estimates of realized population growth indicate that population size has been stable or increasing over the course of our study. More generally, snake annual survival overlaps broadly across continents, climate zones, families, subfamilies, reproductive modes, body size categories, maturation categories, and parity categories. Differences in survival in relation to size, parity, and maturation are in the directions predicted by life history theory but are of small magnitude with much variation around median values. Overall, annual survival appears to be quite plastic, varying with food availability, habitat quality, and other ecological variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Population models can facilitate assessment of potential impacts of pesticides on populations or species rather than individuals and have been identified as important tools for pesticide risk assessment of nontarget species including those listed under the Endangered Species Act. Few examples of population models developed for this specific purpose are available; however, population models are commonly used in conservation science as a tool to project the viability of populations and the long‐term outcomes of management actions. We present a population model for Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii), a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act throughout its range across the Midwestern United States. We adapted a published population model based on demographic field data for application in pesticide risk assessment. Exposure and effects were modeled as reductions of sets of vital rates in the transition matrices, simulating both lethal and sublethal effects of herbicides. Two herbicides, atrazine and mesotrione, were used as case study examples to evaluate a range of assumptions about potential exposure–effects relationships. In addition, we assessed buffers (i.e., setback distances of herbicide spray applications from the simulated habitat) as hypothetical mitigation scenarios and evaluated their influence on population‐level effects in the model. The model results suggest that buffers can be effective at reducing risk from herbicide drift to plant populations. These case studies demonstrate that existing population models can be adopted and integrated with exposure and effects information for use in pesticide risk assessment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2235–2245. © 2018 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directional well drilling and hydraulic fracturing has enabled energy production from previously inaccessible resources, but caused vegetation conversion and landscape fragmentation, often in relatively undisturbed habitats. We improve forecasts of future ecological impacts from unconventional oil and gas play developments using a new, more spatially-explicit approach. We applied an energy production outlook model, which used geologic and economic data from thousands of wells and three oil price scenarios, to map future drilling patterns and evaluate the spatial distribution of vegetation conversion and habitat impacts. We forecast where future well pad construction may be most intense, illustrating with an example from the Eagle Ford Shale Play of Texas. We also illustrate the ecological utility of this approach using the Spot-tailed Earless Lizard (Holbrookia lacerata) as the focal species, which historically occupied much of the Eagle Ford and awaits a federal decision for possible Endangered Species Act protection. We found that ~17,000-45,500 wells would be drilled 2017‒2045 resulting in vegetation conversion of ~26,485-70,623 ha (0.73-1.96% of pre-development vegetation), depending on price scenario ($40-$80/barrel). Grasslands and row crop habitats were most affected (2.30 and 2.82% areal vegetation reduction). Our approach improves forecasts of where and to what extent future energy development in unconventional plays may change land-use and ecosystem services, enabling natural resource managers to anticipate and direct on-the-ground conservation actions to places where they will most effectively mitigate ecological impacts of well pads and associated infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conservation of marine biological diversity and ecosystems is a major current global issue. Marine biological diversity is threatened by sea pollution, overfishing, deep-sea mining, oil exploratory activities, bottom trawling, and other human activities in marine areas. The protection of marine biological diversity is essential for maintaining balance in the natural food chains and ecosystems of Earth, and this can be achieved through sustainable management of marine resources and by preventing pollution, overfishing, and harmful exploitation of sea resources. In this regard, the law of the sea has provided rules and regulations for preventing harmful effects on marine biological diversity caused by human operations in the marine environment. The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Fish Stocks Agreement have applied general obligations on coastal states not to cause pollution and other harm to marine life and resources and the marine environment. The UNCLOS and the RFMO/As also provide protective measures for marine areas beyond national jurisdictions. Furthermore, there are several other international, regional, and United Nations conventions for setting out policies, goals, and strategies for the sustainable use and protection of marine biological diversity and ecosystems. The CMS Convention, CITES, the SOLAS Convention, the London Convention, and the Convention on Biological Diversity are prominent international conventions with a core focus on preserving biological diversity and the environment in international seas. In addition, there are several other regional agreements and conventions, including the Barcelona Convention, the OSPAR Convention, and the Noumea Convention, that provide regulations for controlling marine pollution and regulating human activities in regional seas for marine environmental and biodiversity protection. In addition, several international organizations including the U.N. General Assembly, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Wildlife Fund, the International Maritime Organization, and several others are working to preserve marine biological diversity and ecosystems within their respective regional and global spheres. International humanitarian law, treaty law (comprising different agreements and conventions, e.g., the Geneva Conventions Additional Protocol I and the Hague Convention) and the UNCLOS define protective instruments and principles for the conservation of marine environment during armed conflicts. The United States has also made efforts to extend protection for biological diversity in its marine areas and in the high seas. However, there are still a lot of gaps and challenges in the implementation of such protective measures and principles in marine areas in regional as well as in the high seas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Endangered Species Act protects threatened and endangered species, subspecies, and distinct population segments, with species listings guided by the best scientific information available. "Distinct population segment," however, is not a biological term. To date, there is still not a test based on evolutionary theory used to determine distinct population segments. This Comment attempts to change that by introducing the ecotype concept--a scientific theory that has existed for over one hundred years--into jurisprudence. This Comment begins by recounting how the distinct population segment terminology came to be. Next, it argues that the Endangered Species Act has been implemented contrary to its purpose of protecting the evolutionary process. It then modifies the test for determining distinct population segments with the aim of protecting populations in the early stages of ecological speciation and suggests using the ecotype concept as a guide to future listings. Lastly, this Comment follows the legal history of the Southern Resident killer whale and discusses how the ecotype concept would have applied to each twist and turn along its legal journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) require scientific input on the risk that the species will become extinct. A series of critiques on the role of science in ESA decisions have called for improved consistency and transparency in species risk assessments and clear distinctions between science input and policy application. To address the critiques and document the emerging practice of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), we outline an assessment process based on principles and practices of risk and decision analyses that results in a scientific report on species status. The species status assessment (SSA) process has three successive stages: 1) document the life history and ecological relationships of the species in question to provide the foundation for the assessment, 2) describe and hypothesize causes for the current condition of the species, and 3) forecast the species' future condition. The future condition refers to the ability of a species to sustain populations in the wild under plausible future scenarios. The scenarios help explore the species' response to future environmental stressors and to assess the potential for conservation to intervene to improve its status. The SSA process incorporates modeling and scenario planning for prediction of extinction risk and applies the conservation biology principles of representation, resiliency, and redundancy to evaluate the current and future condition. The SSA results in a scientific report distinct from policy application, which contributes to streamlined, transparent, and consistent decision-making and allows for greater technical participation by experts outside of the USFWS, for example, by state natural resource agencies. We present two case studies based on assessments of the eastern massasauga rattlesnake Sistrurus catenatus and the Sonoran Desert tortoise Gopherus morafkai to illustrate the process. The SSA builds upon the past threat-focused assessment by including systematic and explicit analyses of a species' future response to stressors and conservation, and as a result, we believe it provides an improved scientific analysis for ESA decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article contains Sea Shepherd Legal's (SSL) amicus brief in the matter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals v. Miami Seaquarium, an ongoing litigation concerning the captive orca known as "Lolita." SSL filed this brief for two reasons. First, the conditions under which Lolita is held are at once particularly illegal and immoral. Lolita's conditions of captivity violate both the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), all while imposing continuous harm on a highly intelligent being in the name of entertainment. Second, the decision in this case frustrates the logic of the underlying laws. Captive members of an ESA-listed species occupy a unique position within the regulatory landscape. Unlike "regular" captive animals covered by the AWA alone, captive members of an ESA-listed species enjoy an extra set of protections courtesy of the ESA. So far, the Miami Seaquarium courts have failed to grasp this basic point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how the law seeks to preserve biodiversity in the U.S. It mentions about impact of climate change, habitat destruction, and alien invasive species on biodiversity destruction; enactment of Endangered Species Act, and United States. Marine Mammal Protection Act for addressing the same; and addressing habitat destruction on private land and to mitigate climate change.

Managing livestock disturbance in riparian zones in a manner that provides economic returns to ranchers while protecting streams is an important aspect of rangeland management on public lands in the western United States. Attempts to balance economic and ecologic outcomes have been made more difficult due to the presence of several salmonid species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. One approach to proper management of livestock use near streams has been to define the allowable limits of disturbance using 2 metrics, streambank alteration and stubble height. We evaluated 153 stream reaches within the Interior Columbia Basin to determine if these 2 surrogates of livestock disturbance measured after the vegetative growing season were associated with stream conditions important to salmonids evaluated the following summer. We found that each stream habitat attribute that was evaluated (width-todepth ratio, streambank angle, percent undercut banks, streambank stability, residual pool depth, percent pools, percent pool-tail fine sediments <2 mm, and wood frequency) trended toward lower-quality salmonid habitat as streambank alteration increased or as stubble height decreased. While the strength of these associations were variable, the slopes of the relationships suggest that managing the amount of streambank alteration or stubble height could influence stream conditions within the Interior Columbia Basin. Because improved stream conditions for salmonids corresponded to decreased livestock disturbance, the amount of disturbance allowed in a stream reach will need to reflect management expectations and the environmental setting within the allotment. As a starting point, we suggest the continued application of existing livestock disturbance standards in stream reaches with good habitat conditions, and the specification of more conservative disturbance standards in stream reaches that have degraded habitat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the priorities of the Trump Administration, which are not a great match with those of the conservation community, we find ourselves in a period of rollbacks for all kinds of environmental regulation, including the protection of wildlife. When the federal government fails to adequately regulate, we look to other sources of authority to fill that gap. The first and most obvious place to look is to state and local governments. They are our best hope to avoid hemorrhaging vulnerable species during this presidency. Alas, looking at the realities of state wildlife conservation laws, we see the gaps remain. Where else are we to turn? Is there any potential source of private power that might be leveraged in favor of conservation? Building on the author's recently published theory of ecosystem services property, this Essay considers the extent to which that potential property interest may operate in favor of wildlife conservation, even where that is not the goal of those exercising the right. While no substitute for government regulation, this approach to property rights may well assist in filling regulatory gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific martens (Martes caurina humboldtensis) in coastal forests of Oregon and northern California in the United States are rare and geographically isolated, prompting a petition for listing under the Endangered Species Act. If listed, regulations have the potential to influence land-use decisions on public and private lands, but no estimates of population size, density, or viability of remnant marten populations are available for evaluating their conservation status. We used GPS and VHF telemetry and spatial mark-resight to estimate home ranges, density, and population size of Pacific martens in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, central coast Oregon, USA. We then estimated population viability at differing levels of human-caused mortality (e.g., vehicle mortality). Marten home ranges were small on average (females = 0.8 km², males 1.5 km²) and density (1.13 martens/1 km²) was the highest reported for North American populations (M. caurina, M. americana). We estimated 71 adult martens (95% CRI [41-87]) across two subpopulations separated by a large barrier (Umpqua River). Using population viability analysis, extinction risk for a subpopulation of 30 martens, approximately the size of the subpopulation south of the Umpqua River, ranged from 32% to 99% with two or three annual human-caused mortalities within 30 years. Absent population expansion, limiting human-caused mortalities will likely have the greatest conservation impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Americans are experiencing a communication crisis in public policy--a crisis that has become especially acute since the November 2016 elections. Research shows that Americans increasingly treat their policy views as constitutive of their identities and separate themselves from other groups based on these identities. New solutions are needed in the lawmaking process to soften participants' hardening of their own identities and negative characterizations of other groups. This Article studies one controversy that has proven to be entrenched, if not yet intractable, in many jurisdictions: hydraulic fracturing. The Article examines advances made by scholars of conflict resolution and peace and conflict studies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that focus on dialogue and softening of frames to move entrenched conflicts towards resolution. Based on this case study of the legislative and regulatory snarl over hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania, the Article proposes a new process, marshaled by a Special Committee for Public Policy Dialogue, that would implement the insights of peace and conflict studies researchers allowing the legal system to address and move past identity-based conflicts that threaten to bring lawmaking to a standstill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species conservation requires a thorough understanding of habitat requirements. The northern Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques megalops) was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2014. Natural resource managers are interested in understanding the ecology of this subspecies to guide management decisions and to determine what features are necessary for habitat creation and restoration. Our objective was to identify habitat selection of northern Mexican gartersnakes in a highly managed, constructed wetland hatchery. We deployed transmitters on 42 individual gartersnakes and documented use of habitat types and selection of specific habitat features. Habitat selection was similar between males and females and varied seasonally. During the active season (March–October), gartersnakes primarily selected wetland edge habitat with abundant cover. Gestating females selected similar locations but with less dense cover. During the inactive season (November–February), gartersnakes selected upland habitats, including rocky slopes with abundant vegetation. These results of this study can help inform management of the subspecies, particularly in human-influenced habitats. Conservation of this subspecies should incorporate a landscape-level approach that includes abundant wetland edge habitat with a mosaic of dense cover for protection and sparsely vegetated areas for basking connected to terrestrial uplands for overwintering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating threats to biodiversity increases the number of species requiring listing status judgments under the United States Endangered Species Act. Understanding that complex environments allow for heuristics to influence (and perhaps bias) cognitive decision processes, we hypothesized that scientific expert judgments may be biased when dealing with decisions under uncertainty. More specifically, we surveyed scientists (n=593) to examine how belonging to different social groups may be associated with the scientists' perceived norms amongst peers, their personal wildlife value orientations, and ultimately, listing status judgments for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis). Overall, a majority (74%) of scientists recommended continued Endangered Species Act protections for Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears. Scientists' professional affiliation (government agency vs. academia) was strongly associated with listing status recommendations; agency experts were 7.3 times more likely to recommend delisting grizzlies. Additionally, identifying strongly as "hunter" or "animal rights advocate" and membership in certain professional societies (e.g., The Wildlife Society) were significantly related to listing status judgments, wildlife value orientations, and expert norms. These results indicate that expert judgment regarding imperiled species may not always be determined solely by the best scientific data available. The simplest way to counteract these potential biases in conservation decision-making is to ensure scientific experts are (a) aware that such social and professional biases exist, and (b) construct groups with decision-making authority so that they have a more heterogeneous composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Delta Smelt Hypomesus transpacificus is a small translucent fish that lives in the heart of California's water distribution system. It is an endemic species that is on verge of extinction, largely because it is in direct competition with people for water. This article discusses the controversy surrounding this fish by describing (1) the biology of Delta Smelt; (2) California's complex water storage and distribution system; (3) the history of Delta Smelt, including conservation efforts; (4) the present controversies surrounding it; and (5) the future of Delta Smelt. The decline of Delta Smelt is a strong indicator that the ecosystem of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta has undergone large‐scale changes that make it an unfavorable environment for native fishes. Reversing the trajectory of the Delta Smelt toward extinction will require major shifts in California water policy and water use as well as active management of the smelt's habitat and life history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State wildlife conservation programs are essential to accomplishing the national goal of extinction prevention. By virtue of their constitutional powers, their expertise, and their on-the-ground personnel, states could--in theory--accomplish far more than the federal agencies directly responsible for implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA). States plausibly argue that they can catalyze collaborative conservation that brings together key stakeholders to improve conditions for imperiled species. Bills to revise the ESA seek to delegate greater authority to states. We evaluated states' imperiled species legislation to determine their legal capacity to employ the key regulatory tools that prompt collaborative conservation. All but four states possess statutory programs to identify species on the brink of extinction. Most of them include both animals protected under the ESA and wildlife imperiled just within the boundaries of the state. Thirtyfour states legislate imperiled plant protection programs. States generally fail to prohibit habitat impairment by private parties, lack permit programs to minimize incidental harms to species and spur habitat conservation, and do not restrict state agency actions that undermine species recovery. Compared to the key regulatory programs of the ESA that prompt stakeholders to collaborate on conservation, state laws--in general--reflect a more permissive attitude. Though state laws, in the aggregate, only weakly support cooperative federalism, some state legislative provisions are very strong. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin even go beyond the ESA in their protective measures. Major funding increases to pay for conservation measures could overcome weak agency regulatory authority, but prospects for a spending spree are dim. Therefore, some state legislative reform will be necessary to implement stronger cooperative federalism under the ESA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economics has much to contribute to debates about the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We review recent developments in the economics of endangered species conservation since the late 1990s and identify areas in which there are opportunities for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure. [A]nd God said unto them, [b]e fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. All man's troubles arise from the fact that we do not know what we are and do not agree on what we want to be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is often portrayed as a major source of instability and crisis in river basins of the U. S. West, where the needs of listed fish species frequently clash with agriculture dependent on federal irrigation projects subject to ESA Section 7 prohibitions on federal agency actions likely to jeopardize listed species or adversely modify critical habitat. Scholarship on Section 7 characterizes the process as unwaveringly rigid, the legal "hammer" forcing federal agencies to consider endangered species' needs when proposing operations and management plans for federally funded irrigation. In this paper, we identify barriers to an integrated approach to Section 7 implementation and characterize a set of strategies for overcoming its rigidity that may have broader applicability. We draw on lessons derived from the Klamath Basin along the Oregon-California border, where cross-scale processes and venues involving interagency collaboration among leaders in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation supported efforts to replace an ecologically and socially fragmented Upper Basin/Lower Basin approach to ESA implementation fraught with conflict. The result was the nation's first joint biological opinion (BiOp), which effectively institutionalized an adaptive, flexible, integrated approach to water sharing among competing interests. Keys to success included existing collaborative capacity related to shifting stakeholder networks, trust, and relationships and a shift in local agency culture facilitated by empathic leadership leading to a greater sense of shared responsibility for Section 7 compliance. A collaborative hydrologic modeling process enhanced participatory capacity, facilitated transformative social and technical learning, and cultivated greater understanding of the social-ecological system among key stakeholders. The 2013 joint BiOp exemplifies both governmental capacity for flexibility and evolution within the constraints of formal law and the potential for greater integration among federal agencies and between federal agencies and stakeholders involved in ESA implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population models are used as tools in species management and conservation and are increasingly recognized as important tools in pesticide risk assessments. A wide variety of population model applications and resources on modeling techniques, evaluation and documentation can be found in the literature. In this paper, we add to these resources by introducing a systematic, transparent approach to developing population models. The decision guide that we propose is intended to help model developers systematically address data availability for their purpose and the steps that need to be taken in any model development. The resulting conceptual model includes the necessary complexity to address the model purpose on the basis of current understanding and available data. We provide specific guidance for the development of population models for herbaceous plant species in pesticide risk assessment and demonstrate the approach with an example of a conceptual model developed following the decision guide for herbicide risk assessment of Mead's milkweed ( Asclepias meadii ), a species listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. The decision guide specific to herbaceous plants demonstrates the details, but the general approach can be adapted for other species groups and management objectives. Population models provide a tool to link population-level dynamics, species and habitat characteristics as well as information about stressors in a single approach. Developing such models in a systematic, transparent way will increase their applicability and credibility, reduce development efforts, and result in models that are readily available for use in species management and risk assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) did not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2015, the agency recognized a coordinated effort of private landowners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and state and federal agencies that effectively reduced threats to the species. This effort exemplified an alternative model to species conservation that relies on voluntary conservation of private landowners to preclude government regulation. Through an in-depth case study of private landowner's voluntary sagegrouse conservation efforts in Lake County, Oregon, we explored features of these voluntary arrangements that motivate participating private landowners whose livelihoods depend on livestock production. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews, we explored how private and public actors implemented sage-grouse conservation, landowner's production and conservation goals, and perceived foundations for participation. Qualitative analysis of interviews and documentation found that private landowner participation in voluntary arrangements was motivated by well-funded program offerings that were largely aligned with production goals and gave them a sense of control over their economic futures in the context of a potential ESA listing of sage-grouse. Subscription to these programs was largely facilitated by landowner and agency leadership operating as intermediaries. By aligning voluntary conservation offerings with economic and cultural contexts (e.g., using trusted intermediaries to deliver resources to landowners), voluntary arrangements may alleviate reliance on regulatory protections for species conservation where conservation and rural livelihoods intersect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirteen years after the release of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “Guidance for the establishment, use, and operation of conservation banks”, a draft “Endangered Species Act Compensatory Mitigation Policy” has been released. Understanding whether this draft Policy improves the existing Guidance and incorporates lessons learned requires a review of the practices of currently approved banks. We assess the practices that species conservation banks report, compare them with the 2003 Guidance and international biodiversity offset principles, and assess the degree to which the draft Policy advances conservation banking policy. Results show that banks have generally been well aligned to the recommendations of the 2003 Guidance, but fall significantly short when compared to the analyzed offset principles. Although the draft Policy significantly advances conservation banking policy, future policy updates that provide clear minimum standards on accounting methods, estimation of counterfactual scenarios and monitoring practices are still necessary, together with a greater transparency through reporting and the adoption of new methods and tools to meet the no net loss/net benefit goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Closed population models are commonly used to estimate stream salmonid abundances using mark–recapture information collected during electrofishing surveys. To meet the model assumption of geographic closure, block nets are often used to prevent emigration and immigration of fish during the survey. Increased sampling and tagging efforts in an open site may be an appealing trade-off given the time it takes to properly deploy block nets, but it also increases an abundance estimate’s vulnerability to bias. We assessed the extent of geographic closure violation from emigration in open sites between mark and recapture passes utilizing PIT antennas as virtual block nets. This allowed us to quantify emigration rates of juvenile steelheadOncorhynchus mykissfrom 60 fish surveys across multiple seasons and watersheds. Our goals were to determine how season and site length influence emigration, examine how the life history of an anadromous salmonid may induce bias on mark–recapture abundance estimates, and provide recommendations on minimizing the bias associated with violating the geographic closure assumption. Average emigration rate was low across all surveys and watersheds (5.1%), with higher emigration rates correlating with larger fish, shorter site length, and the season in which the site was sampled. We concluded that the bias associated with violating the geographic closure assumption in an open site can be minimized by avoiding times of migration and by sampling sites up to 650 m long depending on fish density and capture efficiency. Our findings provide useful information for planning mark–recapture studies that have multiple sampling objectives. Received July 27, 2016; accepted May 24, 2017Published online August 4, 2017 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over half of the endangered species in the United States depend on private lands for habitat. In 1982, Congress amended the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to address the conservation of endangered species on private lands through the introduction of Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs). HCPs enable landowners to comply with the ESA and can foster creative partnerships between the federal government and local stakeholders. Researchers have investigated the scientifically biological merits of HCPs, but comparatively little attention has been given to social aspects despite an emphasis on stakeholder involvement in HCPs. We explore stakeholder perceptions of HCP development through 19 semi-structured key informant interviews. Findings include the influence of interpersonal themes, shared understanding and capacity on process outcomes, and the importance of the external context in which HCP development occurs. Our research highlights the central role of understanding social dimensions to achieve the desired outcomes from collaborative conservation planning processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic noise from sources such as sonar, oil and gas exploration, and commercial shipping pollutes the ocean and causes serious problems for marine mammals, who rely on sound to survive. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently addressed the extent of anthropogenic ocean noise pollution (AONP) in its Roadmap that elaborates on the agency's decision to try to address the ocean noise problem using existing statutory authority, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Pritzker is the most recent decision in a series of cases arising under the MMPA that provides an example of how noise pollution from sonar has been successfully managed under the Act. However, Pritzker simultaneously highlights the limited capacity of the MMPA to regulate noise pollution from other sources. This Chapter explores the problem of anthropogenic ocean noise pollution and discusses its effects on marine mammals. This Chapter discusses the restricted scope of the Pritzker decision, examines the limited capacity of the MMPA to regulate ocean noise pollution, and details the deficiencies of NOAA's Roadmap. Finally this Chapter concludes with some suggestions for how statutory authority may be expanded to more adequately address ocean noise pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article reviews the authority of federal and state governments to manage wildlife on federal lands. It first describes the most common assertions made by state governments regarding state powers over wildlife and then analyzes the relevant powers and limitations of the United States Constitution and federal land laws, regulations, and policies. Wildlife-specific provisions applicable within the National Park System, National Wildlife Refuge System, National Forest System, Bureau of Land Management, the special case of Alaska, and the National Wilderness Preservation System are covered, as is the Endangered Species Act. We reviewed an extensive collection of cases of conflict between federal and state agencies in wildlife management on federal lands. These cases show how federal land laws, regulations, and policies are frequently applied by federal agencies in an inconsistent and sometimes even unlawful fashion. They also demonstrate how commonalities found in state wildlife governance, such as sources of funding and adherence to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, often exacerbate conflict over wildlife management on federal lands. Federal land management agencies have an obligation, and not just the discretion, to manage and conserve fish and wildlife on federal lands. We debunk the myth that "the states manage wildlife and federal land agencies only manage wildlife habitat. " The myth is not only wrong from a legal standpoint, but it leads to fragmented approaches to wildlife conservation, unproductive battles over agency turf, and an abdication of federal responsibility over wildlife. Another problem exposed is how the states assert wildlife ownership to challenge the constitutional powers, federal land laws, and supremacy of the United States. While the states do have a responsibility to manage wildlife as a sovereign trust for the benefit of their citizens, most states have not addressed the conservation obligations inherent in trust management; rather, states wish to use the notion of sovereign ownership as a one-way ratchet--a source of unilateral power but not of public responsibility. Furthermore, the states' trust responsibilities for wildlife are subordinate to the federal government's statutory and trust obligations over federal lands and their integral resources. The Article finishes by reviewing the ample opportunities that already exist in federal land laws for constructive intergovernmental cooperation in wildlife management. Unfortunately, many of these processes are not used to their full potential, and states sometimes use them solely as a means of challenging federal authority rather than a means of solving common problems. Intergovernmental cooperation must be a mutual and reciprocal process, meaning that state agencies need to constructively participate in existing federal processes, and federal agencies should be provided meaningful opportunities to participate in, and influence, state decision making affecting federal lands and wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species endangered by rapid climate change may persist by tracking their optimal habitat; this depends on their dispersal characteristics. The Emperor penguin (EP) is an Antarctic seabird threatened by future sea ice change, currently under consideration for listing under the US Endangered Species Act. Indeed, a climate-dependent-demographic model without dispersion projects that many EP colonies will decline by more than 50% from their current size by 2100, resulting in a dramatic global population decline. Here we assess whether or not dispersion could act as an ecological rescue, i.e. reverse the anticipated global population decline projected by a model without dispersion. To do so, we integrate detailed dispersal processes in a metapopulation model—specifically, dispersal stages, dispersal distance, habitat structure, informed dispersal behaviors, and density-dependent dispersion rates. For EP, relative to a scenario without dispersion, dispersal can either offset or accelerate climate driven population declines; dispersal may increase the global population by up to 31% or decrease it by 65%, depending on the rate of emigration and distance individuals disperse. By developing simpler theoretical models, we demonstrate that the global population dynamic depends on the global landscape quality. In addition, the interaction among dispersal processes - dispersion rates, dispersal distance, and dispersal decisions - that influence landscape occupancy, impacts the global population dynamics. Our analyses bound the impact of between-colony emigration on global population size, and provide intuition as to the direction of population change depending on the EP dispersal characteristics. Our general model is flexible such that multiple dispersal scenarios could be implemented for a wide range of species to improve our understanding and predictions of species persistence under future global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]