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Recovery is a major part of the Service's endangered species manage- ment program. Species with approved recovery plans have a higher percent- age of "improving" status designa- tions than those without plans (14% versus 3%). Implementation of recov- ery plan tasks provide significant gains towards positive species recov- ery efforts. The most significant re- covery status difference between the species with and without approved recovery plans is the number of "un- knowns" for those species without recovery plans (25% "unknowns" without plans versus 16% with plans). Recovery plans also outline research efforts needed to assess a species' status and begin the down- ward trend reversal. (See Figure 8.) Seven species with approved recovery plans are believed to be extinct. Specific information on each of the seven species is contained in Appendix IV. The Service has placed increased em- phasis on recovery planning. A pro- cess has been developed to reduce the backlog of species without recovery plans. Target timeframes have been established to guide the development of draft and final plan preparation. Primaiy recovery objectives include delisting, downlisting, or protection of existing populations for a specific time period or for the foreseeable fu- ture. Tasks are identified in each species recovery plan to satisfy the recovery criteria aimed at achievement of the recovery objec- tive. Percentage of recovery objectives achieved are used as a measure of progress towards species recovery. All recently listed species fall in Level 1 (< 25% of objectives achieved). The number of listed species in Level 1 can be expected to increase if listing is accelerated by multi-species/ecosystem listings. Examples of Level 4 (> 75% of recovery objectives achieved) include the Columbian white-tailed deer, Bald eagle, American peregrine fal- con, Pahrump killifish, Socorro iso- pod, and Maguire daisy. Figure 8. Recovery Status Species With and Without Recovery Plans Percentage of Total 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Improving Stable Declining Extinct Unknown With Approved Plans W/O Approved Plans Figure 9. Recovery Objectives Achieved All Listed Species Number of Species 500 439 400 300 200 97 100 34 0 0-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100% Figure 9 shows the percentage of re- covery objectives achieved for all listed species. Four hundred thirty- nine of the 581 species (76%) have less than 25% of their recovery objec- tives achieved. The high percentage includes all species listed within the last three years. In addition, it indi- cates the long-term nature of listed species recovery. Figure 10 presents the percentage of recovery objectives achieved, as separated by taxonomic group. Both an overall trend towards recov- ery and the time dimensions of that trend are evident in Figure 11, which plots the relationship between the time (in years) since each species was listed and the percentage of species listed each year that are considered declining. The calculation was made in October 1990, so each bar shown represents the specified number of fiscal year(s) of domestic species list- ings, counting back from October 1, 1990. For example, of the 37 U.S. species listed last fiscal year, 29 (78%) are still considered to be de- clining. Species listed longer appear to have a better chance of becoming stable or improving. A noteworthy exception to the trend is the 33 species that were listed 14 years ago, 20 of which are freshwater mussels. Almost all the mussels are still declining due to competition from 1 6