Photo Credit: Jeff Servoss, USFWS

How does the Endangered Species Act work? – Well, but only when species are formally listed under the law.

On the ESA Waiting List

The Endangered Species Act is one of the strongest environmental statutes in our nation—and the world—but it cannot protect a species that is not formally listed under the law.

After reviewing a species for listing, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has authority over land-based species, has three options: propose the species for “threatened” or “endangered” status; declare the species doesn’t warrant listing; or announce the species deserves to be listed, but can’t be proposed due to other, higher-priority actions (“warranted but precluded”). Species found to be “warranted but precluded” are placed on the candidate list, where they may wait indefinitely without protection under the Act. This loophole in the listing process delayed protection for years for hundreds of imperiled species. Such delays can have tragic effects: candidates have gone extinct while awaiting listing.

You Can Protect Endangered Species

If you value native wildlife and want to see all imperiled species protected, get the latest updates, action alerts, articles and event invites from WildEarth Guardians.

Historic Milestone

In 2011, more than 250 species were on the candidate list, and more than 80 percent of them were first recognized to warrant listing more than 10 years before that. Some species lingered on the candidate list for decades; for example, more than 50 plants petitioned by the Smithsonian Institute in 1975 were still stuck on the candidate list. “Higher-priority actions” that prevented candidate listing were often delayed, and the actual number of listings slowed to a near-standstill.

WildEarth Guardians broke this “listing logjam” by entering into a historic settlement agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, requiring it to make final decisions on whether to protect 252 candidate species. The settlement concluded in September 2016, with about 70 percent of the candidate species either granted protections under the Endangered Species Act or proposed for listing.

Defend the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is our country’s most essential environmental law protecting plants and animals, yet some members of Congress want to weaken the law. Tell Congress you value native wildlife and want to see all imperiled species protected.

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How You Can Help

Help protect the incredible, vulnerable wildlife of the West! Be a guardian for the wild by joining the conversation, learning about current issues, and making your voice heard. Together, we’re a powerful force for nature.

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Wildlife Press

Wildlife disservice in New Mexico: Federal wildlife killing program intends to continue slaughter of native species

Sep 16, 2021

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—WildEar…

Federal Court Signals Hope for the Climate Threatened Joshua Tree

Counter Punch | Aug 26, 2021

After gearing up for the culmination of WildEarth Guardians’ nearly two-year long court battle to secure federal Endangered Species Act protections for the imperiled Joshua tree…

Federal Agencies Are Ready To Loosen Protections On Certain Fish Native To The Colorado River

KUER | Sep 10, 2021

The razorback sucker fish could be downlisted from an endangered species to threatened in the next year or so, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This week, environmental groups sent the agency a letter in opposition to the move.

Contact

[email protected] 207-798-9788

Danielle Plourde

Data Management Administrator

Danielle joined Guardians in the summer of 2021. As part of the Guardians Resource Team, her role is largely focused on background support to keep the small and mighty engine that is WildEarth Guardians running smoothly. Danielle is no stranger to supportive roles, when she is not at Guardians she is supporting families during the wonderful, potent and awesome transition that is pregnancy, birth and postpartum. She has supported many families in New Mexico as a Doula. She also runs a small herbal company that focuses primarily on this transition. Danielle has a B.A. in philosophy and religious studies and sees her role as a birthworker and a Guardian deeply intertwined and interdependent in the realms of public health and environmentalism.

Nicholas Bascom

Wildlife Program Intern

Nick is a 3rd year law student at UCLA serving as a summer intern with WildEarth Guardians in the Wildlife Program. For Guardians, he concentrates mostly on protecting imperiled species via the Endangered Species Act. At UCLA, his focus is on environmental law and tribal legal development. Before law school, he taught for many years and wrote for Science News and Research Penn State. His first novel, Mordor, California, will be published in the fall. He lives with his wife Camrynn, his son Kyber, and his dogs K.C. and London.

Javier Gallegos

Photography Intern

Javier is the Summer 2021 photography intern for WildEarth Guardians. His work focuses on photographing the Rio Grande and its impact on ecology and human life. He became concerned with the drying of the river from his experience of growing up in El Paso, Texas, without water in the Rio Grande. Only in pictures of other parts of the country did he know what a river was supposed to be like. He is currently a senior at New Mexico State University with plans to graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & Professional Communication and a minor in History in the spring of 2022. Javier enjoys watching stand up comedy and video games in his free time.

Siera Schroeder

Intern

Siera is a rising 3L at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. Growing up in upstate New York she fell in love with the outdoors but it wasn’t until she moved to Denver, Colorado that she realized how deep her passion and love for the outdoors – especially trees and water – actually ran. She now takes every opportunity she can to row or raft down a river, or go and see some trees! One may even say she’s become a real tree hugger. Siera hopes to translate her love and passion for the outdoors and all its wonders into a successful legal career advocating for the protection of the natural environment so it might be preserved for future generations to love and enjoy.

Rachel Pemberton

Intern

Rachel is a rising 3L at Lewis & Clark Law School focusing on environmental and natural resources law. Combining her interests in the natural and social sciences, she received her Bachelor's degree in environmental studies from the University of Washington in 2018. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest exploring parks and forests has made her passionate about protecting public lands, wildlife, and clean air and water for present and future generations.

Reza Sadeghzadeh

Wild Rivers Program Intern

Reza is a rising 3-year law student at University of Oregon School of Law. He received his B.A. from Humboldt State University, where he quickly fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. As an intern for the Wild Rivers Program, Reza’s work is focused on protecting the western yellow-billed cuckoo and the Upper Willamette Chinook salmon and Winter Steelhead. In his free time, Reza is usually doing some outdoor activity like backpacking, cycling, or diving.

Contact

[email protected]

Simon Miller

Intern

Simon Miller is a 2021 summer intern for WildEarth Guardians. He is a rising Junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Simon is a Political Science major that has a passion for examining, improving, and defending the laws and regulations that make our world a better place for people and wildlife. Simon grew up and still lives in Oak Park, the first suburb west of the Chicago city limits.

Contact

[email protected] 303-501-5815

Andrew Rothman

Wild Places Program Director

A native of Wisconsin, Andrew’s interest in wildlife started in his youth, thanks to his many trips to their family cabin in the Northwoods. Growing up in the 80’s, Andrew’s interests in native wildlife expanded to that of the rainforests of Latin America that he learned were rapidly being destroyed. A lifelong aspiration to help protect wildlife and their habitat ensued. Andrew’s professional career has led him toward fulfilling those aspirations. Andrew helped thousands of people increase their connection to nature as the Assistant Naturalist at the renowned Horicon Marsh with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Andrew founded his own non-profit organization, Rainforest Biodiversity Group, to help protect and restore habitat for the endangered Great Green Macaw in Costa Rica; helping private landowners establish private reserves and creating Latin America’s first Birding Trail along the way. Andrew spent over a decade working with American Bird Conservancy managing a portfolio of projects in nearly a dozen countries in Latin America leading to the protection and restoration of thousands of acres of grassland, forest and wetland habitat for migratory and highly endangered endemic birds. Here he also helped establish ABC’s Great Lakes Program, co-authored the Golden-winged Warbler Non-breeding Grounds Conservation Plan, the first plan of its type for a songbird, and helped establish ABC’s Impact Investing Program, which looks to find ways to demonstrate how non-philanthropic capital can be invested for conservation outputs. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, with degrees in Biology and Wildlife Management, Andrew continues to bring innovative solutions to complex conservation problems. Andrew enjoys international travel having visited 28 countries. He also enjoys rock climbing, skiing, yoga, hiking and fine dining. Andrew is the descendant of two WWII concentration camp escapees.

Contact

[email protected] 928-242-3292

Jack Meyer

Greater Gila Arizona Advocate

A local to Arizona's White Mountains, Jack Meyer brings to the Greater Gila campaign a reverence for the wildlife and wild places that shaped him. Jack has worked on social and environmental justice issues throughout his adult life and during his time as an Environmental Studies student at Northern Arizona University. In 2014 he began working with 350.org's fossil fuel divestment movement, and has founded chapters for Our Climate and the Sunrise Movement in Arizona to advocate for science based policy solutions to address climate change. After a year in Tennessee working with Appalachian Voices on their energy democracy campaign Jack is back in the West as WildEarth Guardians Greater Gila Advocate for Arizona. Feel free to send him an email to chat about the work he is doing to protect public lands across the Greater Gila Bioregion.

Zoe Camporaso

Wildlife Program Intern

Zoe is an intern in the Wildlife Program at WildEarth Guardians. She is majoring in Environmental Science at Lewis & Clark College, with a minor in History. She is passionate about soil science and the rights of land. Zoe enjoys vegetable gardening and one of her life goals is to swim in as many bodies of water as possible.

How does the Endangered Species Act work? – Well, but only when species are formally listed under the law.

On the ESA Waiting List

You Can Protect Endangered Species

Historic Milestone

Defend the Endangered Species Act

How You Can Help

Recent Stories From Wildlife

Wildlife Press

WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.

Contact

Danielle Plourde

Data Management Administrator

Nicholas Bascom

Wildlife Program Intern

Javier Gallegos

Photography Intern

Siera Schroeder

Intern

Rachel Pemberton

Intern

Reza Sadeghzadeh

Wild Rivers Program Intern

Contact

Simon Miller

Intern

Contact

Andrew Rothman

Wild Places Program Director

Contact

Jack Meyer

Greater Gila Arizona Advocate

Zoe Camporaso

Wildlife Program Intern