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GAO-09-225R 1 (2008-12-19)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaanlj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A 0 .,! = Accountability * Integrity Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 December 19, 2008 The Honorable Nick J. Rahall, II Chairman Committee on Natural Resources House of Representatives The Honorable Peter DeFazio House of Representatives The Honorable Jay Inslee House of Representatives Subject: Endangered Species Act: Many GAO Recommendations Have Been Implemented, but Some Issues Remain Unresolved The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 protects plant and animal species that are either facing extinction (endangered species) or are likely to face extinction in the foreseeable future (threatened species) and protects the ecosystems upon which they depend. The act includes provisions for listing species that need protection, designating habitat deemed critical to a listed species' survival, developing recovery plans, and protecting listed species against certain harms caused by federal and nonfederal actions. Since the act's inception, more than 1,300 species occurring in the United States or its territories have been placed on the list of threatened and endangered species. The Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Department of Commerce's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-collectively referred to as the services-are responsible for administration and implementation of the ESA, but all federal agencies have responsibilities for protecting species under the act.' The act has long been a lightning rod for political debate about the extent to which the nation's natural resources should be protected and how best to protect them. Proponents of the act believe that it is important to preserve the unique characteristics of each species as a practical response to the impact that humans are having on the earth, and some believe that there is a moral obligation to do so. Some critics of the act deemphasize the importance of preserving every individual species and argue that doing so, in many cases, is too costly-especially when implementation of the act results in restricting the use of public and private land and resources. Others question the validity and completeness of the data used to make decisions under the act. Litigation regarding various aspects of implementation of the act has consumed considerable program resources. 1FWS has primary responsibility for freshwater and terrestrial species, while NMFS has primary responsibility for most marine species and anadromous fishes, which spend portions of their life cycle in both fresh and salt water. GAO-09-225R Endangered Species Act

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