Endangered Species: Fish and Wildlife Service Generally Focuses Recovery Funding on High-Priority Species, but Needs to Periodically Assess Its Funding Decisions

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-04-06 monographic deposited born digital 47 p. GA 1.13:GAO-05-211 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211 P0b002ee1803807a5 f:d05211 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211 GAO-05-211 Allocation (Budget Act) Budget administration Endangered species Environmental monitoring Federal funds Funds management Wildlife conservation Conservation Natural resources Wilderness areas Policies and procedures Endangered Species Program Other Written Product A20857 Endangered Species: Fish and Wildlife Service Generally Focuses Recovery Funding on High-Priority Species, but Needs to Periodically Assess Its Funding Decisions Currently there are more than 1,260 species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. While few species have gone extinct since 1973, only 9 have been "recovered" or removed from the list because they no longer need the act's protection. This has raised questions about how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) allocates its recovery funds. Proponents of the act believe that the Service's recovery funds are only a small fraction of what is needed to make greater recovery progress. The act and agency guidelines require the Service to prioritize species to guide recovery fund allocation. In fiscal year 2000 through 2003, the Service spent $127 million dollars in recovery funds attributable to individual species. In this report, GAO analyzed (1) the extent to which the Service's allocation of recovery funds compares with its recovery priority guidelines and (2) what factors influence the Service's recovery allocation decisions. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211.pdf GAO-05-211 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-211 Other Written Product GAO-05-211; Endangered Species: Fish and Wildlife Service Generally Focuses Recovery Funding on High-Priority Species, but Needs to Periodically Assess Its Funding Decisions; Allocation (Budget Act) Budget administration Endangered species Environmental monitoring Federal funds Funds management Wildlife conservation Conservation Natural resources Wilderness areas Policies and procedures Endangered Species Program