Changing the List of Endangered Species

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

A list of seven Florida plants and animals are being considered for removal from or reclassification on the endangered species list. National agencies say the group--including the Bald Eagle, Key Deer and American Crocodile--has sprung back from endangered status as threats against them were lessened (Jay Slack, Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)...

"It's really a process. It's a scientific and rule-making process that we're looking into."

Jay Slack is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

"When we do our job really well, and when things come together as we'd hoped, then species obviously get recovered."

That recovery prompts plans to reconsider species' endangered status...

"They either get recovered to the point that they get taken off the list, or they get recovered to the point that the endangered status can be changed to threatened status."

Slack sees the process as a desired part of protecting endangered species...

"After a certain amount of time, if we see enough progress, and we remove the threats to the species--that actually cause them to be put on the list--those species can then be considered for such changes under the Endangered Species Act."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

Saying their numbers have increased and threats against them are reduced, federal wildlife managers will consider a plan to reclassify seven Florida plants and animals on the endangered species list. Jay Slack is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

"The Bald Eagle, the American Crocodile, four plants...one of them called the Beach Jacquemontia, three other plants, Papery Whitlow Wort, Sand Lace and Wire Weed, then the Key Deer which occurs in the Florida Keys, as does a butterfly called the Schaus Swallowtail Butterfly."

The agency uses a mirror image of the analysis that put the species on the endangered list...

"This analysis determines how bad different threats are and whether or not the status of either endangered or threatened still applies."

If threats are successfully reduced, plants and animals can be removed from the list...

"When they would apply to an endangered species, and now we've made a determination they're threatened, we go through a process to change their status from endangered to threatened. If the threats have been removed to the point where they're no longer needing the protections of the (Endangered Species) Act, then we propose them for removal from the list."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

As federal agencies consider plans to lessen the status of seven Florida plants and animals on the endangered species list, they're quick to point out that any reclassifying or removal from the list, can only come after good news for the species--like three, once-endangered plants from the Florida scrub...

"Those species were impacted due to loss of habitat... could be loss for agriculture, could be loss for development, those sorts of things."

The good news comes from U.S Fish and Wildlife Service Field Supervisor Jay Slack

"We were able to address those issues by procuring habitat, putting it into conservation, and managing it appropriately. Once we've done that, we have essentially secured the species."

Slack says similar threat removal helped increase the numbers and condition of Florida's Key Deer...

"We have established a National Wildlife Refuge and purchased habitat. We have looked into ways to change the impacts that were occurring to the species through hunting. Other things like deer getting hit by cars. The response that we've seen is an increase in numbers (of deer) and the overall health of the deer herd."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment

Federal wildlife agencies expect some concern about their plan to reduce the endangered status of seven Florida plants and animals, including the Bald Eagle, the Key Deer, and American Crocodile. One frequent objection is that less protection of the species will endanger them again. Jay Slack is with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...

"It's important to remember that when we do our analysis of the threats, one of the things that we need to make sure is that the threats have been removed from the species."

Slack says it is often the removal of threats that increases the population of the species...

"If the threat had been loss of habitat, or impacts to the species because they were being killed for some reason, then we couldn't take them off the list until we had addressed that concern, sufficiently."

And only by addressing those concerns, Slack says, can his agency consider lessening endangered status, or removing species from the list...

"We as conservationists have addressed those issues, have made sure that they won't recur when they're taken off the endangered species list, and therefore those protections must inherently be in place and addressed, or we couldn't take them off the list."

I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose that seven Florida plants and animals be removed from or given less protection on the endangered species list. They say that's as a result of species springing back while they've been on the protected list. The agency's Jay Slack expects the trend to continue...

"This list of seven species that we're looking at now for reclassification is the beginning of a good trend in Florida."

He says coming efforts on ecosystem restoration in Florida should improve the status of many Florida plants and animals...

"Everglades restoration is an important issue for everyone in Florida, and it's also a national issue if not a worldwide issue. As we're restoring the Everglades, obviously there are going to be successes from a threatened and endangered species standpoint... that's one of the reasons we're doing it. So we're going to see improvements in those species."

But even with improvements for some species, Slack sees the need to watch for problems for others...

"We're ever-vigilant for other species that may need the protection of the Endangered Species Act. So we have to keep an eye on both fronts, if you will: recovery and backsliding for other species."