How do Species Become Listed as Endangered?

        Before a species can be considered either endangered or threatened it must first meet several criteria. First the species must be recognized as inhabiting a critical habitat, which is a habitat that is essential for the specie's survival. If not then plans may or may not be put in place to relocate the species to a more suitable habitat if it appears that the specie cannot or will not move on its own. The species' habitat can cover anywhere from a few miles to several states. Because of this a specie in one habitat area may be listed while the same specie occupying another habitat area may not be listed. If the specie is occupying its critical habitat then the specie and/or habitat must exhibit damage or endangerment due to disease or predation; over use of the habitat by means of cultivation or construction of infrastructure, or any other man-made problems resulting in the eminent destruction of the habitat. Another reason a specie may be under consideration may be that there is a critical habitat area that the species used to occupy that is currently void of that specie. This is called the species historical range; the area that is known to have once been the habitat for the specie. If any of these circumstances occur then the FWS has the option of listing the specie as a threatened or endangered specie in that habitat area under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA).

        Before a species can be listed under the ESA it is considered a candidate. Anyone today can propose a species to be listed as endangered through petition, but it must first go through the FWS to see if there is reason to believe the species may be endangered in that specific area. All candidate species are then published in the annual Candidate Notice of Review. Because so many species are on the candidacy list and the process to be listed takes at least a year to complete for one species, the FWS sorts through each candidate to decide which has the greatest threat to it, followed by the immediacy of the treat, then finally how diverse a specie/subspecies is to any of its cousins.  If a candidate is given a high priority status the FWS will go through a period in which they will try to see if quick, immediate actions can be taken to boost the population without having to go through the listing process. Here they will try to put in place simple conservation efforts and enlist help from local governments and the public to assist in the population recovery. If the recovery of the species does not seem to be imminent in the very near future then the FWS will write a written listing proposal. After the proposal is presented the FWS will research the species current situation with the help of studies done by other distinguished people of the biological community. Over the course of a year the species will be analyzed and at one point the public will have 60 days to comment on the proposal. This is meant to gain public testimonies about what the studies could not find. At the end of the year if there is substantial evidence that the well-being of the species is threatened then it will be listed under the ESA. If there is no conclusive evidence then the listing will be declined. However if no conclusion can be reached after a year, then the process can be extended for another 6 months. Today the FWS recognizes 1175 species of animals and 747 species of plants as either threatened or endangered.