Summary: In response to a congressional request, GAO examined possible implementation deficiencies under the Endangered Species Program to determine: (1) the extent of recovery of domestic threatened and endangered species; (2) federal agencies' progress in developing recovery plans; and (3) whether the agencies implemented their recovery plans.
GAO found that it was unable to measure program success because: (1) few domestic species were officially declared either extinct or recovered; (2) the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) lacked centralized information on species' movement toward or away from recovery; (3) increased work loads and funding shortfalls hampered FWS and NMFS recovery efforts; (4) FWS did not adhere to its priority system for preparing and updating recovery plans, allocating funds, or tracking recovery activities; and (5) FWS concentrated its recovery funds on highly visible species and those species that were approaching recovery, rather than prioritizing the most endangered species and those actions needed to prevent future extinctions. GAO also found that: (1) the agencies had not initiated many planned recovery tasks; and (2) as of September 30, 1987, the agencies had approved plans for 56 percent of the domestic species and had plans underway for an additional 18 percent.
