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..... - I will pursue each of these eight issues separately and briefly in the hope that it will shed light on some of the real issues we face today and how they may be dealt with. Few people are cognizant of the number of plant and animal species in the world nor of the problems involved in trying to determine their status and "/hethel~ they qualify for listing. There are an estimated 1 ,500,000 species of plants and animals in the world today. The majority are animal species, and of the animal species the majority are invertebrates. There are at least 3 to 5 times as many subspecies as species, and the number of taxa below the subspecific level boggles the mind. The vast majority of foreign species are little known and most are practically unknown insofar as .current population status and trend are concerned. About all we can do to resolve this problem is conduct more intensive surveys of plant and animal groups that are candidates for listing by virtue of.the fact that they are heavily exploited, or in a region of the country that is undergoing rapid habitat destruction, or they are in the path of a major planned development, etc. Surveying plant and animal species costs a lot of money in the United States and even n~re in other parts of the world. Experience suggests that one- quarter to one-half or the species surveyed will not be candidates for listing,. and this further increases the cost of the listing process. Realistic administration of this activity means selecting the best candidate groups for surveying, paying your money and taking your chances. It's a fact that some specier are in real trouble now, some are headed for trouble, and others are faring well. If we knew which was which, we could solve the first problem and and the second pr.ob1em too. Or could we? Is it as simple as that? Should a highly endangered species of grasshopper take precedence over a .highly endangered species of mountain lion, or an endangered tree species take precedence over an endangered bird species? Are pupfish less important than whooping cranes? Are rattlesnakes less important than timber wolves? Are U.S. species more important than foreign species, or is a species in a foreign country more important than a subspecies in the U.S.? Realistic manage~ent at the Federal level means setting these kinds of priorities and, to the degree possible, sticking with them. Our basic premise has been that all species, as defined in the Act; are equal, but in order to set priorities, we have opted for species over lesser taxa, U.S. species before foreign species, species for which the data are available before species for which the data must be acquired, and species that appear to be endangered before species that appear to be threatened. We do not distinguiSh between vertebrates and invertebrates, or between plants and animals in setting these priorities. The reason is that the purpose of the Act is to preserve the ecosystems in which endangered and threatened species reside. Ecosystems are composed of both plants and animals and both vertebrates and invert~brates. 292