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When ~ Federal agency (includinG the Fish <1nd \HldlHe Service) has pl:1ns to impac t an area tia,) t has be\.'1I dcsign:ncd cr 1 tical habi ta t. it is the re~polH,ihility of that agency to demonstrate th.:lt their act ions ",,111 not alter those p.:lr:1met~rs necessary for the continu~d survival of the listed species. The Fish .:md Wildlife Service is willing to assist these fedcr<tl agencies in this determination through the pro~ss of formal Section 7 consultation. It is important to undcrst.:lnd that designating an area as critic.:ll habit.:lt docs not necessnrily e",:cludc that aren or its resources from entry or use. St.:lte and private ~~tions in critical hnbitat are not effectc.>d by Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. unless Federally authorized or funded. Fcdpral activities must be evalunted by the - initiating agency to insure that they will not negatively impact the species or the. variables needed for its survival. What critical habitat does is net as a warning alert to Federal agencies to coordinate their activities in that area with Section 7 guidelines. Is the idea and result of critical habitat realistic? As long as its function is clearly understood and not interpreted as de facto wilderness designation. I believe both are very realistic.~ It is obviously impossible to list all of the environmental variab~es a listed species needs to survive. and yet all of those variables arc known to exist in areas now supporting the species. It necessitates that the impacts of Federal actions on the environment must be clearly and fully spelled out, and perhaps altered to eliminate negative impacts on certain portions. In a few cases. the negative impacts cannot be eliminated. and then the initiating agency. and perhaps the courts, must decide if the action is in compliance with Section 7. It is not the responsibility of the Fish and Wildlife Service to enforce Section 7 of the Act. nor to rule as to the compliance of other Federal agencies. We do issue biological opinions to agencies on the probable impacts of their projects on listed species but the final decision rests with the initiating agency. Recovery Plans . Finally we get around to recovery teams and plans. One point 1 hope to make is that the recovery plan concept is only one method of assisting listed species. Unlike listing and critical habitat. it is a positive management tool, specifically designated to produce and coordi- nate recovery actions which should ultimately lead to recovery of the species. In theory. the idea of forming a Recovery Team with five to eight experts from various Federal. State and private organizations for the purpose of developing a plan for the recovery and ~urvival of a listed." . species has many b~nefits. During the developnent of a plan. diverse - points of view are constantly being aired and ideas tested that might never be considered if only one person or ideological group was doing the work. Recovery tc~~s are provided some expenses and told they are independent entities. [~ee to dcvelcp their task (i.e.. Recover~ Plan) solely on the basis of the biological needs of the species. 300