Professor Doremus Co-Authors Study on Multispecies Conservation Plans

Professor of Law Holly Doremus, an expert on the Endangered Species Act and the role of science in environmental policy, co-authored a study that found many multispecies habitat conservation plans have significant informational flaws that limit or overestimate the plans conservation potential. The report, published in the current edition of the peer-reviewed journal BioScience, reviewed the species selected for coverage in 22 multispecies habitat conservation plans (MSHCPs) permitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. It found that, on average, 41 percent of plants and animals covered in the MSHCPs were not even confirmed to exist in the plan areas. Furthermore, it also found that many plans lacked specific conservation measures or actions designed to protect individual species, and also lacked data necessary to evaluate a plans effectiveness. "The law allows for development that is consistent with conservation, said Doremus. But if the plans are approved without adequate information, we can't be confident that the law will meet its primary goalconservation."

July 2006/BioScience

http://www.aibs.org/bioscience-press-releases/resources/06_July_Rahn.pdf

July 15, 2006/The San Diego Union-Tribune

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/in_the_news/full_text/view_clip.lasso?id=16055