Endangered Species Program

THE PROBLEM: Species on the Brink of Extinction

The Pacific Northwest is home to many species that face imminent extinction if drastic steps are not taken to save them. These include many stocks of salmon, as well as mammals, birds, and plants. The populations of such species have collapsed to the point of requiring special protection due to loss of habitat, degraded habitat including pollution and loss of stream flows, over-fishing and hunting, and the effects of toxic contamination. In addition to species near extinction, the region also has populations of species that have dwindled locally, but whose national populations are sufficiently high as to not warrant special protection. On example are mink in the Lower Columbia River that are suffering reproductive failure due to toxic contamination. More Endangered Species...

THE SOLUTION: The Endangered Species Act (ESA)

The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides protection for species and stocks that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) or U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) have determined are "threatened" or "endangered." Once designated, protection is granted to these species through several mechanisms. One is the process called consultation where one or both of the Services determine whether actions proposed by other federal agencies will cause harm to the protected species. Oregon and Washington also have state laws designed to protect and restore species that have not been granted protection as threatened or endangered under the federal law. More on ESA...

NWEA's ACTION: Using Federal Laws and State Programs to Save Species

NWEA's efforts to protect and restore endangered and other sensitive species are focused on those that rely on water environments, including fish, amphibians, and fish-eating birds and mammals. Using the Clean Water Act, NWEA advocates for state water quality standards that provide protection for such species, clean-up programs for waters exceeding those standards, and pollution controls that will meet the standards. For example, NWEA has challenged Oregon's water quality standards as insufficient to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. NWEA is also using the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to strengthen clean water programs. NWEA is using the ESA to protect the Columbia and Willamette Rivers from further degradation through the proposed deepening of their shipping channels. More on Using Laws to Save Species...

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