Record Progress In Protecting Endangered Species

Press Release Center for Biological Diversity

Record Progress Made on Backlog of Endangered Species Awaiting Protection 

 Spurred by Landmark Agreement to Protect Nation’s Most Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— After several decades when endangered plants and animals were allowed to languish indefinitely on a waiting list, an annual federal summary released today reveals that for the second year in a row, the number of species waiting for Endangered Species Act protection decisions remains below 150 — the lowest number since the list, in its current form, was created in the 1990s.

The steady progress the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making in addressing the backlog highlights the success of a landmark agreement reached with the agency by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2011, which requires the Service to speed protection decisions for 757 species. The 2014 “candidate notice of review” released by the agency today includes 146 species…