U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Threatened & Endangered Species Team (TEST)

  • image 1

    Photo by Steven George

  • image2

    Photo by Thiwa Balazik

  • image3

    Photo by Dena Dickerson

  • image4

    photo by anonymous

  • image5

    Photo by anonymous

  • image6

    Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, Photo by Alan Shirey, Charleston District

  • image7

    Stellers eider, Polysticta stelleri, Photo by Christopher Floyd, Alaska District

  • image8

    Golden-cheeked warbler, Setophaga chrysoparia, Photo by Denise Lindsay, ERDC

  • image9

    Piping plover eggs, Charadrius melodus, Photo by John Pribilla, New England District

  • image10

    Dwarf lake iris, Iris lacustris, Photo by Katie Otanez, Detroit District

  • image11

    Houghton's Goldenrod, Solidago houghtonii, Photo by Katie Otanez, Detroit District

  • image12

    Pallid sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus albus, Photo by Markus Miller, Kansas City District

  • image13

    Piping plover, Iris lacustris

  • image14

    Least tern, Sternula antillarum

  • image15

    Female Fender's blue butterfly, lcaricia icarioides fenderi, Rhiannon Cochrane, Portland District

  • image16

    Male Fener's blue butterfly, lcaricia icarioides fenderi, Photo by Rhiannon Cochrane, Portland District

  • image17

    Juvenile Piping plover, Iris lacustris, Photo by Whitney Huesers, Omaha District

  • image18

    Sheepnose mussel, Plethobasus cyphyus, Photo by Philip Mathias

  • image19

    Willamette daisy, Erigeron decumbens, Photo by Wes Messinger, Portland District

  • image20

    Fender's blue butterfly egg, lcaricia icarioides fenderi, Photo by Wes Messinger, Portland District

What is TEST?

REDUCE costs and impacts. IMPROVE operations and conservation. The TEST is a new initiative within the USACE Dredging Operations and Environmental Research (DOER) Program designed to develop solutions to priority threatened and endangered species issues that will improve operational flexibility, reduce future costs, improve budget planning capabilities, reduce adverse impacts to mission execution, and improve species conservation outcomes (including Recovery).

Why is TEST important?

The execution of USACE missions occurs in a complex environment of TES regulations and statutory compliance requirements. TES conservation concerns currently exist at over 430 projects, for over 300 different species, and the USACE expenditures related to ESA compliance average ~$230 million per year. USACE is ranked second among federal agencies in expenditures related to the ESA, just below the Department of Energy’s Bonneville Power Administration. These costs include coordination with resource agencies, project alternative formulation and evaluation, Biological Assessments and Opinions formulation, project constraints and construction, and operations and maintenance constraints and obligations. In all of these activities, the burden is upon USACE to provide evidence that our actions and methods will not jeopardize TES. In the absence of such evidence, USACE projects are often delayed by extended consultations; additionally, projects incur substantial short and long-term costs.


Latest News

- USFWS Proposes to List the Eastern Black Rail as Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act (PDF)

- USFWS Proposing to Revise the Regulations for Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat (external link)

- Black-capped Vireo removed from Endangered Species Act protection due to recovery (PDF)

Discover

TEST Partners

  • Bureau of Land Management

    Bureau of Land Management Endangered Species Recovery Fund -- Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, total Recovery Funds Initiative funding for the 1150 (Threatened and Endangered Species) Program has been $9,650,093 million. Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Funds Initiative program has supported 69 species across the BLM. These funds have supported threatened, endangered and candidate species recovery actions identified in recovery plans.

  • Department of Defense's (DoD) Natural Resources Program

    Department of Defense Natural Resources -- The Department of Defense's (DoD) Natural Resources Program (NR Program) supports the protection and conservation of all threatened, endangered, and at-risk species found on military installations. DoD TES Fact Sheet

  • Friends of the Wild Whoopers

    Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization whose mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. The goals of FOTWW are to: (1) acquire secure resting/feeding sites along the whooping crane migration corridor; (2) raise funds to provide rewards for persons who inform on those who kill whooping cranes; and (3) educate interested persons about whooping cranes and their needs. As one part of that mission, in 2018 the FOTWW signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess migration stopover habitat at Corps lakes.

  • FWS

    As the principal federal partner responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) takes the lead in recovering and conserving our nation's imperiled species by fostering partnerships, employing scientific excellence, and developing a workforce of conservation leaders. Through the Cooperative Recovery Initiative (CRI) the USFWS is working with partners to help prevent extinction, recover species and protect habitats that benefit both wildlife and people. CRI is a strategic, cross-programmatic approach to recovering federally listed species on National Wildlife Refuges (Refuges) and surrounding lands that provides opportunities for focused, large scale on the ground conservation efforts that typically have few venues for funding.

  • USFS TES

    U.S. Forest Service National Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species (TES) Program -- The TES Program assists field biologists, other staff personnel and line officers to attain the Chief's priorities and managing TES resources from a healthy ecosystem perspective. This includes recovery of threatened and endangered species and their habitats, conservation of sensitive species and their habitats, and providing for the diversity of plant and animal communities on National Forest System lands. Link to Fact Sheet

  • WRP

    The Western Regional Partnership (WRP) provides a proactive and collaborative framework for senior-policy level Federal, State and Tribal leadership to identify common goals and emerging issues. The aim is to support WRP Partners and protect natural resources, while promoting sustainability, homeland security and military readiness.

  • WLFW

    Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) is a partnership between Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to use agency technical expertise combined with $33 million from the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program to combat the decline of seven wildlife species whose decline can be reversed and will benefit other species with similar habitat needs.


  • FWS

    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- As the principal federal partner responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA), we take the lead in recovering and conserving our nation's imperiled species by fostering partnerships, employing scientific excellence, and developing a workforce of conservation leaders.