Projects and Research

To make sure all species listed as threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) continue to have the appropriate level of protection, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) conducts assessments of their status at least once every five years. We call these five-year status reviews. These periodic reviews are required under ESA section 4(c)(2...

The Species Status Assessment framework is an analytical approach developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to deliver foundational science for informing all Endangered Species Act (ESA) decisions. An SSA is a focused, repeatable, and rigorous scientific assessment. The result will be better assessments, improved and more transparent and defensible decision making, and...

When a species is proposed for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), we identify specific areas that are essential to its conservation. These are the species’ critical habitat. Critical habitat is a tool that supports the continued conservation of imperiled species by guiding cooperation within the federal government. Designations affect...

In order to provide the best possible conservation for our nation's imperiled species, we developed a National Listing Workplan (Workplan) for addressing domestic listing and critical habitat decisions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) priority is to implement and administer the ESA effectively and efficiently. The...

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to develop recovery plans for listed species unless we determine that a recovery plan would not promote the conservation of the species. Recovery plans describe the envisioned recovered state for a listed species and serve as central organizing, planning, and communication tools to guide recovery...