Background

Under Assault: Critical Habitat Provisions of the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act requires that “critical habitat” areas containing the lands and water necessary for the recovery of endangered species be mapped and protected. Critical habitat designation is one of the three essential legs on which the federal Endangered Species Act stands; the others are the listing of threatened and endangered species, and the development of recovery plans. Current rules require that habitat be designated for all species. Critical habitat has proven to be a very effective conservation tool. However, the Bush administration is engaging in new policies that seek to minimize and avoid the designation of critical habitats. This includes not complying with court orders, expanding anti-critical habitat loopholes, and inserting legal disclaimers in all critical habitat rules to encourage and support industry lawsuits to strike them down. The Bush administration claims that federal agencies do not have the funds they need to conduct surveys and draw maps of each species' critical habitat, as required under the law. Yet scientific surveys have demonstrated that species with critical habitat are improving faster than those without.

To make matters worse, the administration has already shown its support for major weakening of critical habitat designation by completing an exemption from critical habitat provisions for all 25 million acres of US military lands.