Since I am posting a lot of articles and commentaries about the Endangered Species Act…and abuses of that law….I am posting source information from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide background:

From US Fish and Wildlife Service

Why should we save endangered species? Congress answered this question in the introduction to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (Act), recognizing that endangered and threatened species of wildlife and plants “are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people.”

After this finding, Congress said that the purposes of the Act are “…to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved [and] to provide a program for the conservation of such … species…” Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) under section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Act provide for partnerships with non-Federal parties to conserve the ecosystems upon which listed species depend, ultimately contributing to their recovery.

HCPs are planning documents required as part of an application for an incidental take permit. They describe the anticipated effects of the proposed taking; how those impacts will be minimized, or mitigated; and how the HCP is to be funded. HCPs can apply to both listed and nonlisted species, including those that are candidates or have been proposed for listing. Conserving species before they are in danger of extinction or are likely to become so can also provide early benefits and prevent the need for listing.

For all the details, download the Habitat Conservation Plans fact sheet. [179KB]

Learn more about HCPs and related topics.

Access the full library of documents related to Habitat Conservation Plans.

Read the Service’s policies regarding habitat conservation plans.

Landowners can contact the Service and take the next steps toward developing an HCP.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 22nd, 2011 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Center for Biological Diversity, climate change, endangered species act, environment water and energy, global warming, litigious environmental groups, politics, Western Watershed Project, WildEarth Guardians. Tags for this post: center for biologivcal diversity, climate change, endangered species act, global warming, litigous environmental groups, US fish and wildlife, wastern watershed project, wildearth guardians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.