Report: Endangered Species Act Recovery Plans Missing, Delayed and Old

Today, Defenders of Wildlife’s Center for Conservation Innovation has published a paper in the journal Conservation Letters on the Endangered Species Act (ESA), entitled “Missing, delayed, and old: The status of ESA recovery plans.” The study illustrates the consequences of the long-term under-funding of the ESA by Congress. Contrary to the rhetoric of anti-wildlife politicians and their corporate backers, the Endangered Species Act is not broken – it is being starved of the resources needed to effectively save species from extinction.

Using data from all U.S. domestic and transboundary ESA-listed species, the research analyzed the completeness, timeliness, age, and other variation among ESA recovery plans over the past 40 years. Among eligible listed species, Defenders of Wildlife found that nearly 25 percent lack final recovery plans; half of plans have taken more than five years to finalize after listing; half of recovery plans are more than 20 years old; and there is significant variation in planning between agencies, and among regions and taxonomic groups.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, Former president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, issued this statement:  

“The Endangered Species Act is being starved of the funding and resources needed to save wildlife from extinction. Nearly one-fourth of eligible listed species have no plan for recovery and more than half of existing recovery plans are more than 20 years old.

“This report should be a wake-up call to Congress to fully fund endangered wildlife recovery rather than falsely claim that the Act is broken. The Act has had decades of success in saving wildlife from extinction, but it needs funding and resources to develop timely, scientifically sound recovery plans that protect wildlife and their habitat.

“Our nation and our planet are facing an extinction crisis that could result in the loss of half of all species in as little as 33 years. With this emerging crisis at hand, Congress should be working to fund this important law, not weaken it.”

Jacob Malcom, Director of the Center for Conservation Innovation of Defenders of Wildlife, issued this statement:

“Our research found that we are failing to protect imperiled wildlife by allowing endangered and threatened wildlife to go without recovery plans, and allowing plans to be delayed or to go out of date. Less than one-fifth of listed species received a recovery plan within 2.5 years of listing, and nearly one-fifth required planning time of ten years or more.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service should update their recovery planning policies to allow early and continuous engagement of the public, to make draft recovery plans available within 1.5 years of listing, and to post the interim recovery plans online as soon as possible. And most of all, the Services should seek the funding they need to plan for and take the action necessary to recover imperiled species.”