U.S. Modifies Species Protection Process

Why it matters locally: Virginia is home to numerous threatened and endangered species, and this change in federal policy could directly impact how conservation efforts are managed for species found within the Commonwealth.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government has revised its approach to safeguarding imperiled species, replacing automatic federal protections with a requirement for individualized plans. Under the previous framework, species designated as threatened automatically received the same protections as those listed as endangered. Moving forward, the addition of a species to the threatened list will necessitate the development of a specific protection strategy for that particular species. This change means that federal agencies will no longer apply a uniform set of safeguards to all threatened species upon their listing.