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and associated costs by all cooperat- <br />ing agencies. They serve as a <br />blueprint for private, Federal, and <br />State interagency cooperation in the <br />implementation of recovery actions. <br />A recovery plan is a document that <br />sets forth the information base and <br />management needs to allow the <br />species a chance at recovery so that <br />protection under the Endangered <br />Species Act may no longer be <br />required. <br />The recovery planning process pro- <br />vides for public participation to en- <br />hance coordination and acceptance, <br />which are vital to species' survival <br />and eventual recovery. The Service <br />recognizes the need to develop recov- <br />ery plans for listed species and has <br />increased efforts in this area, particu- <br />larly by increasing the number of <br />multi-species recovery plans, coordi- <br />nating plan preparation, and identify- <br />ing plans where other conservation <br />agencies can participate in order to <br />accelerate critical recovery task im- <br />plementation. <br />While reclassifications and delistings <br />demonstrate that there can be <br />successes in recovery, removal from <br />the list is not a reasonable goal for all <br />endangered species. Primary recovery <br />efforts generally aim at stabilizing or <br />reversing deterioration of a species' <br />habitat or decline in its numbers and <br />then restoring it to a condition in <br />which it is likely to survive over the <br />long term. A more realistic measure <br />of the Service's recovery efforts than <br />the number of species delisted is <br />probably the proportion of listed <br />species whose status has been stabi- <br />lized, particularly among species that <br />are habitat-limited and thus more vul- <br />nerable to changes in their environ- <br />ment. Maintenance of remaining <br />populations of listed species and pre- <br />vention of their extinction is a basic <br />objective of the program. <br />Report Overview <br />The Species Status Report is <br />divided into four major sections. <br />Appendices presenting each section <br />are explained below. The Lead <br />Region is listed for each species. <br />Coordination among Regions regard- <br />ing species' status occurs when <br />known ranges overlap Regional <br />boundaries. <br />Appendix I addresses the status of <br />each species with an approved recov- <br />ery plan. Each species' status is iden- <br />tified as Improving, Stable, <br />Declining, Unknown, or Extinct. <br />Appendix II outlines the status of <br />development and implementation of <br />recovery plans for all species occur- <br />ring in the United States and/or Trust <br />Territories. <br />Appendix III indexes all listed <br />species by State(s) and/or territory of <br />occurrence. Each State and/or Trust <br />Territory is listed individually with <br />listed species cross-referenced with a <br />"Species Account Number". The <br />Species Account Number directly re- <br />lates to the Individual Species <br />Recovery Report in Appendix IV. <br />Appendix IV provides individual <br />species recovery progress reports for <br />all species occurring in the United <br />States and/or Trust Territories. An <br />index of the species, listed alphabeti- <br />cally by common name, is at the end <br />of Appendix IV. <br />This year's report includes all species <br />listed as of October 1, 1990. <br />Recovery plan information is current <br />through September 30, 1990. Data <br />are outlined for species occurring in <br />the United States and/or Trust <br />Territories only. No foreign species <br />are reported. The date of listing for <br />each species is the date the rule was <br />published in the Federal Register. The <br />effective date of the rule is usually <br />thirty days succeeding publication in <br />the Federal Register. <br />As of October 1, 1990, 581 species <br />were listed as endangered or threat- <br />ened in the United States and/or Trust <br />Territories. All taxonomic groups are <br />represented. <br />Four hundred and fifty-two of the <br />species have been listed for longer <br />than 3 years. Species listed in the last <br />3 years have been dominated by <br />plants (58%). Most species listed less <br />than 3 years do not yet have final <br />approved recovery plans. Many, <br />however, have plans in some stage of <br />development. Recovery outlines are <br />developed within 60 days of publica- <br />tion of the final rule listing a species <br />and are submitted to the Service <br />Director to be used as a guide for <br />activities until recovery plans are <br />developed. <br />Individual species recovery priorities <br />are assigned using the Service's pub- <br />lished guidelines. Sixty-one percent <br />of the species are assigned high re- <br />covery priority numbers, signifying <br />an imminence of extinction for nearly <br />two-thirds of the listed species. <br />Approximately 35% are assigned <br />moderate recovery priority numbers <br />and 401o are assigned low numbers. <br />High priorities are assigned across all <br />taxonomic groups with no bias <br />towards any taxonomic group. <br />An additional designation "C" is ap- <br />pended to those species recovery pri- <br />ority numbers where a known threat <br />or "conflict" exists. Approximately <br />25% of listed species have possible <br />conflicts with development projects <br />or other forms of economic activity. <br />The majority of listed species are not <br />in conflict with other activities. <br />Of the 581 U.S. listed species, 352 <br />(61%) have approved recovery plans <br />as of October 1, 1990. <br />Eighty-three percent of listed species <br />have either an approved recovery plan <br />or one that is in some stage of devel- <br />opment. Eighteen (3%) of the species <br />will not have recovery plans <br />prepared. Of the 81 species with re- <br />covery plans "pending," that is, <br />planned but not yet initiated, 41 have <br />been listed less than 3 years. The <br />remaining forty (7%) of the species <br />that warrant having recovery plans <br />vi