New York State Bureau of Wildlife Endangered Species Unit Endangered Species Research Correspondence and Subject Files

By record type. Pathology reports are arranged chronologically.

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Fish and Wildlife expanded its scope to include the protection and management of endangered species in accordance with the federal Endangered Species Act of 1966. In 1970, the New York State Legislature passed an endangered species law (Chapter 140) that prohibited the "...taking, importation, possession or sale of any endangered species...except under license or permit from the Department." This law also enumerated more than a dozen species to be protected, a list which was expanded in 1971. The Division of Fish and Wildlife also focused on protecting the habitats of endangered species, specifically wetlands. The Tidal Wetlands Act of 1973 (Chapter 790) and the Freshwater Wetlands Act of 1975 (article 24 of the Environmental Conservation Law) called for an inventory of all wetlands in the state.

Starting in 1976, the DEC began to allocate additional resources to protecting and conserving endangered species. The Endangered Species Unit was part of this increased effort to protect endangered species. The unit had no predecessors, and its work documents the DEC's central role in the state's efforts to protect and revive endangered species. During this year the DEC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service entered into an agreement rendering the state eligible for matching grants in support of development and implementation of programs aimed at protecting endangered species.

This series documents the history and development of the Endangered Species Unit. These files represent the extant unit subject files related to the Department of Environmental Conservation's centralized, statewide endangered species programs, largely spanning from inception in 1976 to the dismantlement of this unit in 2010.

Records include correspondence; emails; memorandums; articles/clippings; data and drafts of articles published in DEC publications and reports; pathology records; and photographs. Records contain information on efforts to restore the populations of endangered species in New York as well as enforce existing regulations. These records include but are not limited to information on Karner blue butterfly populations, the reintroduction of moose in New York, tiger salamander breeding projects, and bog turtle observations. There are also several boxes of pathology reports, mainly dealing with endangered bird species such as the osprey, bald eagle, and peregrine falcon. These pathology reports often consist of memorandums, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and specimen data sheets for deceased or injured birds. The specimen data sheets record date recovered in wild, location, condition of specimen, necropsy results, laboratory test results, and whether the bird was rehabilitated and released.

B2669Series B2669, New York State Bureau of Wildlife Wlidlife Management Reports, contains related records.

This series was transferred under RDA 22904.

Access to records which identify habitats of rare, threatened, or endangered species is restricted in accordance with Environmental Conservation Law Sections 3-0301(2)(r) and 11-0539(4).