Endangered Species Act Recovery Criteria and Expenditures for Fish Managed by USFWS.

Shirey, Patrick D.¹, Susan A.R. Colvin² , ¹University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, ²Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, AR

Endangered Species Act (ESA) recovery plans must meet legal requirements (1) to provide recovery time and cost estimates, (2) to set objective and measurable delisting criteria, and (3) to address the five factors that are considered when listing or delisting a species. These five factors include: threats to habitat or range, whether a species is subject to overutilization, presence of disease, existence of regulatory mechanisms outside of federal protection (i.e., the states), and if there are other natural or anthropogenic factors impacting continued existence. We reviewed recovery plans for ESA-listed fish managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to determine how many meet these requirements. Of 105 recovery plans for fish taxa managed by the USFWS, 52% of plans estimated time to recovery, 44% plans estimated cost of recovery, and 61% of plans provided quantitative recovery criteria. Only one-third of these recovery plans specifically addressed the five delisting factors. Multiple log-linear regressions on combined state and federal expenditures for listed species for each fiscal year (FY) from 2012 to 2017 indicated that expenditures varied between USFWS regions and increased with species geographic range and if a species has been propagated in captivity or litigated. If a species is litigated, the corresponding expected increase in expenditures ranges from 166% to 606% depending on the year. If a species is propagated, the corresponding increase in expenditures ranges from 142% to 494% depending on the year.