Reviewing the proposed revisions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mitigation policy : hearing before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, second session, September 21, 2016.

This handbook is a guide to the federal Endangered Species Act, the primary U.S. law aimed at protecting species of animals and plants from human threats to their survival. It is intended for lawyers, government agency employees, students, community activists, businesspeople, and any citizen who wants to understand the Act--its history, provisions, accomplishments, and failures.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is required to use the best available scientific info. when making decisions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Controversy has surrounded whether former Deputy Assist. Sec. Julie MacDonald may have inappropriately influenced ESA decisions by basing decisions on political factors rather than scientific data. This report examines 3 issues: (1) what types of decisions, if any, were excluded from the Service¿s review of decisions that may have been inappropriately influenced; (2) to what extent the Service¿s May 2005 informal guidance affected 90-day petition findings; and (3) to what extent the Service has, before de-listing species, met recovery criteria. Illustrations.