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The Endangered Species Act
Copies of the United States Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 - 1544, are available from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa.html) and Cornell Law School (ttp://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode16/usc_sup_01_16_10_35.html).
Administration and Regulation
The Endangered Species Act is jointly administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov/) which is part of the Department of Interior (http://www.doi.gov/) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/) which is part of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (http://www.noaa.gov/) which is in turn part of the Department of Commerce (http://www.commerce.gov/).
Joint regulations, issued by the Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, govern the administration of the Endangered Species Act (http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title50/50cfr17_main_02.tpl).
For more information on the history of the Endangered Species Act and resources on the law and the regulations implementing it see A Pathfinder to Information on The Endangered Species Act of 1973 by Mary Kilpatrick (http://www.llrx.com/features/esa.htm). Another helpful list of resources can be found from Cal State Fullerton's Pollak Library (http://guides.library.fullerton.edu/endangered/federal.htm).
Individual Species
There are numerous resources available about the world's imperiled fish, plants, and wildlife.
For general information on the number and distribution of species protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act see the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Species Information Page (http://www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html#Species). There you can find:
- A complete list of every species listed as threatened or endangered;
- A summary of the number of listed species broken down by species group;
- General statistics about listed species (including how many species are listed, how many have designated "critical habitat," and how many have "recovery plans" in place);
- And maps showing the number of listed species, species proposed for listing, and "candidate"
Detailed information about each species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including its scientific name and links to official documents and regulations issued about these species can be found at the Fish & Wildlife Service's Threatened and Endangered Species System (TESS) webpage (http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/TESSWebpage).
The Fish & Wildlife Service also provides a link to maps (http://criticalhabitat.fws.gov/) of some "critical habitat" designations for listed species.
The National Marine Fisheries Service's Office of Protected Resources (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species) also provides information about the endangered and threatened marine species that are its primary responsibility.
For more detailed information, including information on many protected species see EE Link's endangered species mainpage (http://eelink.net/EndSpp/endangeredspecies-mainpage.html).
The IUCN/World Conservation Union (http://www.iucn.org/) and other organizations maintain a "Red List" (http://www.redlist.org/) of species on the brink of extinction around the world.
Nature Serve (http://www.natureserve.org/explorer) also maintains an extensive on-line encyclopedia about plants, fish, and wildlife and the ecosystems on which they depend.
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