U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Report to Congress on the Recovery of Threatened and Endangered Species Fiscal Years 2003-2004 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program www.fws.gov/endangered December 2006 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible under the Endangered Species Act for conserving and recovering our nation’s rarest plant and animal species and their habitats, working in cooperation with other public and private partners. From the Director Endangered Species Program Contacts Do you want more information on a particular threatened or endangered species or recovery effort near you? Please contact the Regional Office that covers the This 2004 report provides an update on the State(s) you are interested in. If they cannot help you, they will gladly direct you recovery of threatened and endangered species to the nearest Service office. for the period between October 1, 2002, and Region Six — Mountain-Prairie September 30, 2004, and chronicles the progress Washington D.C. Office Region Four — Southeast 134 Union Boulevard, Suite 650 of efforts by the Fish and Wildlife Service and Endangered Species Program 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200 Lakewood, CO 80228 the many partners involved in recovery efforts. 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 420 Atlanta, GA 30345 http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/endspp Arlington, VA 22203 http://www.fws.gov/southeast/es/ During this time, recovery efforts enabled three http://www.fws.gov/endangered Chief, Division of Ecological Services: species to be removed from the Endangered and Chief, Endangered Species: Julie Lyke; 303/236 4213 Threatened Species List. The Tinian monarch, a Chief, Division of Conservation Gloria Bell; 404/679 7100 small forest bird found only in the Northern and Classification: Jurisdiction: Colorado, Kansas, Mariana Islands, the Hoover’s woolly-star, a flow- Christine Nolin; 703/358 2105 Jurisdiction: Alabama, Arkansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, ering plant in California, and the Oregon popula- … recovery activities Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming tion of the Columbian white-tailed deer were all Chief, Division of Consultation, HCPs, Mississippi, North Carolina, South delisted. Vital recovery efforts resulted in the and conservation Recovery, and State Grants: Carolina, Tennessee, Puerto Rico, and Region Seven — Alaska conservation of viable habitat and caused popu- efforts have reduced Rick Sayers; 703/358 2106 the U.S. Virgin Islands 1011 E. Tudor Road lations to thrive. In addition, three species were Anchorage, AK 99503-6199 proposed for delisting due to recovery: the the threats or Chief, Division of Partnerships Region Five — Northeast http://alaska.fws.gov/fisheries/ Johnston’s frankenia, Eggert’s sunflower, and Eastern population of the gray wolf. and Outreach: 300 Westgate Center Drive endangered/ reversed population Claire Cassel; 703/358 2390 Hadley, MA 01035-9589 Substantial progress towards recovery has been made by many other species. For http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ Chief, Division of Endangered Species: example, the Missouri bladderpod, a member of the mustard family, was reclassified declines in 33 percent Region One — Pacific endangered/ Michael Roy; 907/786 3925 from endangered to threatened after making significant progress towards recovery. Eastside Federal Complex As is the case in many of these actions, the success can be credited to individual of all listed species. 911 N.E. 11th Avenue Chief, Division of Endangered Species: Jurisdiction: Alaska landowners who voluntarily implemented best management practices on their lands. Portland, OR 97232-4181 Marty Miller; 413/253 8615 http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/ California/Nevada Operations Office This report also documents the percentage of recovery plans completed for listed Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Delaware, 2800 Cottage Way, Suite W2606 species. Recovery plans outline the on-the-ground actions and tasks necessary for Chief, Division of Endangered Species: Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Sacramento, CA 95825 species to recover to the point they can be considered for delisting or reclassification. Patrick Sousa; 503/231 6158 Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, http://www.fws.gov/pacific/cno.htm The Service has demonstrated a marked improvement in finalizing recovery plans for Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, threatened and endangered species. For example, in 1994 only 54% of listed species Jurisdiction: Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Virginia, and West Virginia Chief, Division of Endangered Species: had finalized plans, while by the end of this reporting period 82% of species had final Washington, American Samoa, Mike Fris; 916/414 6464 recovery plans. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Pacific Jurisdiction: California and Nevada While implementing recovery actions and finalizing recovery plans is extremely Trust Territories important for recovery, we also recognize the challenges in addressing the needs of declining species and species whose population status is unknown. Thus, in 2005, the Region Two — Southwest Service initiated 5-year reviews for listed species under the Act, with the goal to deter- P.O. Box 1306, Rm 4012 mine whether a species’ current classification is still accurate in light of new informa- Albuquerque, NM 87102 tion, as well as current research and monitoring programs. http://ifw2es.fws.gov/EndangeredSpecies In summary, this Recovery Report to Congress shows 413 species of the 1,251 listed Acting Chief, Division of are considered stable or improving, which means that recovery activities and conser- Endangered Species: vation efforts have reduced the threats or reversed population declines in 33 percent Susan Jacobsen; 505/248 6641 CNO of all listed species. It can take years, even decades, to reverse the declining trend of a species considered to be on the brink of extinction and facing overwhelming threats. Jurisdiction: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas As we look back nearly 35 years since the passage of the ESA—one of the world’s landmark environmental laws—we should be pleased with how far we’ve come, but Region Three —Great Lakes, Big Rivers recognize how far we still have to go. We are continuing to make strides in improving Hawaii and Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building the status of listed species by implementing on-the-ground recovery activities and Pacific Islands One Federal Drive increasing partnerships in cooperative conservation efforts. Region 1 Ft. Snelling, MN 55111-4056 http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/ Chief, Division of Endangered Species: T.J. Miller; 612/713 5334 Puerto Rico & Alaska U.S.Virgin Islands Jurisdiction: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Region 7 Region 4 Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to Congress to Report Recovery Scott Smith, Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources 2003-2004 Fiscal Years 36 34 32 18 15 Table ofContents Table U.S. Service Wildlife Fish& Appendix A Data Conclusion Results Species Highlights Greg Koch, www.gkphotography.net Greg Koch, in Durham, Sciences Carolina. North week old pup that and was attheMuseumof Life born photograph:Cover nibblestheearofhissix- wolf Ared 4 3 2 Tim Sutterfield, U.S. Navy 7 6 Status ofListedSpecies Recovery Overview Threatened andEndangeredSpecies Report toCongressontheRecoveryof Status oftheRecoveryProgram:FY2003-2004 Methods species regardless of whether or not Report to Congress on the they have a final recovery plan. Recovery of Threatened The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Ser- vice), under the DOI, and the National and Endangered Species Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) (formerly National Marine Fisheries Ser- vice), under the DOC, have been delegated the responsibility of adminis- tering the Act. In general, the Service has responsibility for freshwater and terrestrial species, while NOAA Fisheries has responsibility for most marine species and anadromous fish1. Currently, the Service and NOAA Fish- eries share the responsibility for the following ten listed species: the Atlantic and Pacific populations of both the green and olive ridley sea turtles; the s w hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, e N g and loggerhead sea turtles; the Atlantic n i n salmon; and the gulf sturgeon. Addition- r o M al information on these joint species h a may be found in the NOAA Fisheries n n a Office of Protected Resources’ “Biennial v a S Report to Congress on the Recovery , n o t Program for Threatened and Endan- g n i gered Species: October 1, 2002 – r r a September 30, 2004.” C n h o J This report satisfies the Act’s reporting requirement for October 1, 2002 to Fish and Wildlife Service biologists Billy Brooks and Willie Booker band endan- September 30, 2004, (reporting period) gered wood stork chicks at Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge,Townsend, Georgia. for U.S. species solely under the Ser- These efforts continue a 15-year project with the Georgia Department of Natural vice’s jurisdiction, as well as those Resources, University of Georgia, University of Florida, and Savannah River managed jointly with NOAA Fisheries. Ecology Laboratory to track the movement and survival of the birds. Partner- Introduction ships with Ducks Unlimited and Bass Pro to build water control structures and Under the Act, any species of fish, nesting platforms, manage feeding areas, and create cypress-studded islands wildlife, or plants, except pest insects, have provided prime nesting habitat for a range of wading bird species. Due to can be added to the List