The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted to provide a means whereby the habitat upon which endangered and threatened species depend may be conserved. Under Sections 7 and 10 of the ESA, the taking of listed species may be allowed when certain limiting criteria are met. In 2003,the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a memorandum on conservation banking indicating that activities regulated under Section 7 or Section 10 of the ESA may be eligible to use a conservation bank if the adverse impacts to the species from the particular project are offset by buying credits created or sold by the bank.
More recently the USFWS issued guidance on a Recovery Credit System to address impacts authorized under Section 7 of the ESA. Section10 allows the taking of listed species after the applicant has demonstrated it will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of the species in the wild. The USFWS Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Handbook suggests that acceptable compensatory mitigation may include acquiring or otherwise protecting replacement habitat at an onsite or off site location. Policies and guidance to update the 1981 Mitigation Policy and the 2003 Conservation Banking Guidance under USFWS regulatory authorities were enacted in late 2016 and formally rescinded in 2018.
Interactive graph shows the number of federally listed species for each state and includes non-nesting sea turtles and whales in State/Territory coastal waters and species or populations under the sole jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service, but does not include experimental populations and similarity of appearance listings. These numbers show listed species or populations believed or known to occur in each state.
Graph shows change in the number of listed plant and animal species by state since 2016.
More species have become listed in Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee than any other states. California, Alabama and Oklahoma have reduced the number of species listed more than any other states. Conservation banking will continue to play an increasing role in the conservation of habitat, species recovery and listing avoidance for threatened and endangered species.
Total number of conservation banks approved through 2018 with cumulative conservation banks approved.
Out of the 50 states, only 14 states have any approved conservation banks.
States with the most approved conservation banks include California (89), Florida (12) and Texas (9). The states with the fewest approved conservation banks include: Colorado (1 Approved), Georgia (1 Approved), Maryland (1 Sold-out), Mississippi (1 Approved), South Carolina (1 Approved), and Wyoming (1 Approved).
Conservation Banks by current bank status and by state.
This interactive line graph shows credit sales, inventories, transaction volumes, and credit releases from 2000 to 2018.
This interactive line graph shows current available conservation bank credits by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Field Office.
KEY: Interactive chart shows private conservation banking market values in U.S. Dollars ($USD) . The visualization shows estimated annual values based on roll-ups of thousands of transactions and calculated using average pricing for the U.S.
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