Codex of the Endangered Species Act, Volume II

Lowell E. Baier is an attorney and a legal and environmental historian and author. He has worked in Washington, D.C. throughout his fifty-eight-year career as a tireless advocate for natural resources and wildlife conservation.John F. Organ is Chief of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units and Senior Science Advisor for Cooperative Research for the U.S. Geological Survey.

If the last fifty years were about preventing extinction by establishing an effective ESA emergency room for the most imperiled species, the next half century must be about confronting the extinction crisis by building a system of preventative and rehabilitative care that invests both upstream to save at-risk species before they’re on the brink of extinction and to accelerate the recovery of species already listed. For years, Lowell Baier has been a key partner in our work by advancing a national conversation on the best way to recover at-risk species. He brings the same level of bipartisan zeal that originally brought the ESA to life. Through the Codex, he convenes a broad range of authors who aspire to improve the law so it can continue to thrive in a new, modern era. Lowell shines a light on all aspects of the ESA, from the technical and administrative to its economic, legal, and political implications.

• Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsGuide to Acronyms and TermsForewordPrologueSummary of 14 ChaptersChapter 1: Species Recovery and State Wildlife Action Plans: Moving the ESA from Regulation to Cooperation. John F. Organ, Ph.D.IntroductionPremisesHistorical Perspective on the ESAGuiding Principles for State Wildlife Action PlansState Wildlife Action Plans TodayNew HopeChapter 2: Making an Asset of Endangered Species Recovery. Timothy Male, Ph.D.Creating Predictable Offramps from New Reasonable and Prudent Measures through a Net Conservation Benefit PlanCreating Population-Level Deregulatory OpportunitiesFinancial Backing for Mitigation Credit SuppliesFloor PriceWildlife Revolving Loan FundPay for Success Recovery ContractingStandardizing a Baseline YearHow Would a Baseline Year Work?Authorization of Private Landowner Payments for Hosting Listed SpeciesConclusionsChapter 3: Unlocking the Full Power of Section 4(d) to Facilitate Collaboration and Greater Species Recovery. David Willms, J.D.History of 4(d) RulesThe 1975 Grizzly Bear 4(d) RuleThe Role of Litigation in Species Delisting EffortsSocial Tolerance for Listed Species in the Face of LitigationUsing Section 4(d) to Establish Benchmarks for Incremental Delegation of Authority to StatesHypothetical GYA Grizzly Bear 4(d) Rule with Incremental Management Delegation to StatesChapter 4: Using Practice-Based Regulations to Promote Collaborative Recovery of Threatened Species. Robert L. Fischman, J.D.AbstractI. IntroductionII. The Collaborative Governance Framework in ESA 4(d) RulesA. Substantive Standards for Protective RegulationsB. Collaborative Governance ManifestationsIII.A Comprehensive Evaluation of Protective RegulationsA. Who and WhereB. WhyC. HowD. How Long: Review and RevisionIV.Lessons for More Effective Collaborative Governance through Protective RegulationsA. A Framework for Preparing RegulationsB. Cooperative FederalismC. Promoting Recovery1. A Conservation Standard 2. Adaptive ManagementD. EnforcementE. Delisting TrialsV.ConclusionChapter 5: The Species Status Assessment: A Framework for Assessing Species Status and Risk to Support Endangered Species Management Decisions. Conor McGowan, Ph.D., Nathan Allan, M.S., and David R. Smith, Ph.D.IntroductionFraming the Problem and the Impetus for the SSA FrameworkThe Decision ProblemDecision OpportunitiesThe Species Status Assessment FrameworkSpecies NeedsCurrent ConditionsFuture ConditionsThe Three R’sResiliencyRedundancyRepresentationSSAs in the Decision ProcessFuture Challenges and OpportunitiesAcknowledgementsChapter 6: The Future of Habitat: Lessons From the Dusky Gopher Frog Conflict. Jonathan Wood, J.D. and Tate Watkins, M.A.I. The ESA’s Critical Habitat ProvisionsII. A Shy Frog, Uninhabitable Critical Habitat, and Supreme ConflictIII. Critical Habitat’s “Private Land Problem”IV. Lessons for Species Recovery From the Dusky Gopher Frog ConflictA. Is the Land Public or Privately Owned?B. Is the Land Occupied or Unoccupied?C. Is the Land Habitable or Does It Require Restoration Efforts?V. Turning Habitat From a Liability into an AssetA. Repeal the Critical Habitat Provisions and Pursue Habitat Conservation By Other MeansB. Purchase of Habitat or Potential HabitatC. Incentives for Recovery EffortsD. Rewards for Provision of Ecosystem ServicesVI. ConclusionChapter 7: The ESA and Landscape Conservation: A Vision for the Future. Ken Elowe, Ph.D.Landscape ConservationWhat Does this Have to Do with the ESA?An OpportunityDoes This Work?A Conservation ImperativeThe Future of ConservationChapter 8: Scenarios for the Next 50 Years. Gregory Schildwachter, Ph.D.IntroductionPremisesBetter MeasuresA Model for Building ScenariosInputsPolitical InputsScenario Element: Add Collaboration as a Political InputTime and Money ResourcesScenario Element: Improved Measures of InputsScenario Element: Additional Funds from the Private Sector as InputsSummary of Scenario Elements for InputsActivitiesPolitical ActivitiesScenario Element: Developing, Pitching, and Promoting Policy and Program ProposalsAdministrative ActivitiesScenario Element: Directing Activities by Priority and EfficiencyScenario Element: Using Saved Time and Money for Other ActivitiesSummary of Scenario Elements for ActivitiesOutputs and OutcomesScenario Element from Outputs: A More Informative Box ScoreAdministrative and Political OutputsScenario Element from Outputs: Higher Numbers of Timely ApprovalsScenario Element from Outputs: An Agenda of Active Collaborative ProposalsSummary of Scenario Elements for Outputs and OutcomesRearranging the ObviousScenario OneScenario TwoScenario ThreeFinal ScenarioChapter 9: The Role of Genomics in the Future of ESA Decision-Making. Brenna R. Forester, Ph.D. and Tanya Lama, Ph.D.IntroductionThe Role of Genetics and Genomics in the ESA: ListingTaxonomy and Classification StatusAssessing Current Conditions and Relationships to Past ChangeAssessing Response to Future ConditionsThe Role of Genetics and Genomics in the ESA: RecoveryDeveloping Recovery UnitsIdentifying Recovery CriteriaIdentifying Recovery ActionsMonitoring RecoveryFrontiers in Conservation Genomics & the Next Fifty YearsAcknowledgementsChapter 10: The Future of Section 10 – Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plans? Douglas P. Wheeler, J.D. and Dale Ratliff, J.D.IntroductionThe Early ESA and Enactment of Section 10A.1982 ESA AmendmentB.The “No Surprises” RuleLarge-Scale, Multispecies HCPs: Taking Stock of the Western Riverside MSHCP as a National ModelA.Background: The Western Riverside County Multiple-Species HCPB.Habitat Acquisition under the Western Riverside MSHCPC.Project Efficiency and Cost Savings: A Successful Model for Supporting Needed InfrastructureD.Lessons Learned: Multi-Agency Wetland Permitting1. The Western Placer County Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Community Conservation Plan2. Increased Coordination in Administration of the Western Riverside MSHCPThe Future of MSHCPS: Multi-Species and Multi-States HCPs for Renewable and Transmission ProjectsA.The Midwest Wind Energy Multi-Species HCP1. Resource Equivalency Analysis and Evidence of Absence2. The Midwest Short-Term TemplateB.The R-Project HCPC.Renewable Energy HCP for the Lesser Prairie-ChickenFuture DirectionsA.Increased Inventory Efforts and Focus on Biological Hot SpotsB.Better Funding Mechanisms to Create Certainty and Promote Advanced ImplementationC.Increased Efficiency in Development and ApprovalsD.MSHCPs and RecoveryConclusionChapter 11: Improving cooperative state and federal species conservation efforts. Temple Stoellinger, J.D., Michael Brennan, J.D., Sara Brodnax, MEM, Ya-Wei (Jake) Li, J.D., Murray Feldman, J.D., and Bob Budd, M.S.I. IntroductionII. BackgroundIII. The WorkshopSection 1: State-Led ConservationSection 2: Pre-Listing ConservationSection 3: Enhancing Opportunities for State Science and State Participation in Species Status Assessment PreparationSection 4: Expand Opportunities for States to Help Develop and Implement 4(d) Rules for Threatened SpeciesSection 5: Communication Principles for States and the FWSSection 6: Recovery Planning and Implementation and DelistingSection 7: Funding Needs for Conservation of All SpeciesIV. ConclusionChapter 12: Integrating Social and Environmental Science in Decision Making for Endangered Species Management. Shawn J. Riley, Ph.D. and Angela K. Fuller, Ph.D.Decisions and the ESASome Basic Social Science for Decision Aiding in Endangered Species ManagementThe National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species ActDecision Making under NEPA and Parallels to Structured Decision Making and Adaptive Management FrameworksSynthesis and Future DirectionsChapter 13: Conservation Without Conflict: A Collaborative Approach to the Endangered Species Act. James F. Bullock, Jr., M.S., and Cindy K. Dohner, M.S.Foundation for Collaborative ConservationThe Black Bear Conservation CommitteeConservation Without ConflictSidebar: Conservation Without Conflict Operating PrinciplesChapter 14: The Endangered Species Act: The Next Fifty Years. Lowell E. Baier, J.D., John F. Organ, Ph.D., and Christopher E. Segal, J.D.AcknowledgementsBibliography IndexAbout the Contributors