"Endangered Species: Obama Admin Overhauls Listing Policy"

"The Obama administration [Friday] released a final policy to guide government scientists in determining whether wildlife species deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act, making a substantive change to a draft policy released 2½ years ago.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service policy will dictate when wildlife is granted federal protection and, if so, where.

The legally binding policy, which takes effect in about a month, offers guidance for interpreting when a critter is in danger of extinction 'throughout all or a significant portion of its range,' a key, albeit oft-debated, phrase in the 1973 law."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire June 27, 2014.

Source: Greenwire, 06/30/2014