EVALUATING THE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF RECOVERY PLANS FOR FEDERALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES

Abstract

We assessed the internal consistency of the planning process for endangered species by analyzing over 150 recovery plans. We evaluated consistency within recovery plans in three key areas: threats to species, gaps in information, and monitoring of species recovery. Our analyses revealed that recovery plans typically have high levels of internal consistency in all key areas, with mean consistency >50% for eight of the nine comparisons conducted. The only area with relatively low consistency was monitoring. Specifically, we found low consistency in monitoring threats (25.7 ± 1.76%, mean ± 1 se) and monitoring of recovery criteria (consistency 51.3 ± 3.35%). In general, multi-species plans were more consistent than single-species plans in monitoring identified threats. Our results suggest that recovery plans are effectively maintaining a consistent focus in their recommendations for endangered species recovery, with the exception of monitoring. We emphasize, however, that internal consistency alone is not sufficient to assure that a recovery plan will be effective.