ESA List Limbo

Being in the top 40 isn't always a good thing. Just outside the list of endangered and threatened species is a roster of potential candidates just shy of making the endangered and threatened lists, which grant federal protection. This week, the conservation group WildEarth Guardians will issue a critical report on the top 40 candidates, arguing that the government must act quickly if these puttering life forms are to have any chance of survival. Environmental activists believe the Obama administration will be more receptive to their requests than the Bush White House, which moved in its waning days to allow Interior Department employees to ignore the evaluations of field scientists when deciding whether to add a species to the list. The previous administration said the rule was a way to cut through bureaucracy, but critics said it cut science out of the picture. Obama's interior secretary, Ken Salazar, killed the change on Tuesday. There are currently 1,009 endangered plants and animals in the United States, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which maintains the lists. There are another 308 species on the threatened list, which means they are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. And on the less lucky list are 252 candidates for protective classification. Most of the mammals, birds, insects and plants on the current candidate list have sat there for years, without protection, as their numbers dwindle toward extinction...Newsweek

The report is here.