Threatened and Endangered Species

Overview

Sonoran pronghorn (Antilocapra americana sonoriensis) in the wild (A) and in the Sonoran Pronghorn Semi-Captive Breeding Facility on Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (B). The facility is producing pronghorn to augment the populations at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and also to restore them to areas no longer occupied.

The Endangered Species Program works to sustain and recover over a thousand populations of endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species in national parks. The programs mission is to reduce the risk of extinction of plants and animals in parks, and to restore species that have occurred in parks historically but have been lost due to human activities. The Park Service seeks to be proactive in determining the status of rare species and cooperating with other agencies to conserve declining species to avoid listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Every park provides information on the status of their listed species and the money spent on recovery and monitoring.

Parks in the Pacific West and the Southeast regions have the greatest number of threatened and endangered species. Haleakala and Everglades National Parks top the list in their regions. A link provides those parks with the most listed species (pdf size 19 KB). Not only do these areas have great biologic diversity, but many of these areas have been significantly affected by invasive non-native species and human development.

These third graders from Volcano Charter School planted Ka’u silverswords at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Silverswords grow in diverse habitats such as exposed lava, dry shrublands, wet forests, and bogs. They exhibit growth forms ranging from lianas (woody vines) to rosette shrubs to trees.

A summary of federally protected species in national parks is provided in the table below (2006 data), and you can now search the NPS ESA Database. You can get information about threatened and endangered species by park, by species (using either the common or scientific name), by amount spent, or by listing status. For summaries or recovery efforts in each region, go to the issue of The Endangered Species Bulletin (pdf size 2.2 MB) that is devoted to the park service. For more details on the ESA, species that are listed under the Act, or the park service program, see the contacts and links at the bottom of this page.

Endangered Species Restoration Success in National Parks:

The federally listed endangered silverswords are the crown jewels of Hawaii’s native flora. Following the introduction of non-native goats, pigs, cattle, and mouflon sheep, silverswords suffered a severe decline. The park began its recovery efforts for the Mauna Loa silversword by fencing and removing alien ungulates, followed by propagation and outplanting of seedlings into protected sites. Since 2000, a total of 13,340 seedlings have been outplanted, exceeding the parks target of 12,500 seedlings! This year’s seedlings were outplanted by community and park volunteers and students from the Volcano Charter School led by Ane Bakutis, CESU Rare Plant Specialist and Tim Tunison, Chief of Resources Management.

Before a species, a subspecies, or a distinct vertebrate population is formally listed as threatened or endangered, it is scientifically evaluated according to established criteria. A species remains a candidate until the evaluation takes place. Once a candidate species has been officially proposed for consideration, it receives protection from the park service until a decision has been reached. Sometimes when a species is being restored, a population is declared experimental given greater management flexibility until it is established. At other times, the need for federal listing is unnecessary if management actions to secure the species are put in place by state and federal agencies.

Removing a species from the federal list is a public process than entails a scientific evaluation. After delisting, five years of monitoring is required to make sure that the threats do not resume.

Contacts and Links :

Biological Resource Managment Divsion, Ft. Collins, CO.
Zoology: Peter Dratch, Botany: Nancy Brian

Information about the Endangered Species Act

Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Home Page

National Marine Fisheries Home Page

E-mail contact for the Endangered Species Program