California Endangered Species Act
Note: the following text is England|Ecology’s standard legal text used for biological reports. The primary purpose of this text’s existence on this website is to provide a landing page for hyperlinks in footnotes in smaller documents, where there may not be adequate space for explanations of the laws and policies that underpin the report.
The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) is the State of California’s tool to protect rare and declining plant and wildlife species. Plant and animal species may be designated threatened or endangered under CESA after a formal listing process by the California Fish and Game Commission. Implementation of CESA is by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CESA protects species using the following status designations:
An endangered (CE) species is a species of plant or wildlife whose prospects of survival and reproduction are in immediate jeopardy.
A threatened (CT) species is a species of plant or wildlife present in such small numbers throughout its range that it is considered likely to become an endangered species in the near future in the absence of special protection or management.
A candidate (CC) species is one formally under review for listing. Candidate species are protected from take by CESA during the review process.
Assembly Bill 1319 (AB 1319) was signed by Governor Newsom, becoming effective on January 1, 2026. AB 1319 intends to counter any reduction in protections by the FESA, requiring CDFW to monitor changes in species protections under FESA. If CDFW determines that a federally listed species would be substantially impacted by a decrease in protections by the federal government and that listing as a provisional candidate species could significantly reduce such impacts, CDFW would publish its determination, and the species will be listed under CESA as a provisional candidate species. “Provisional candidate species” is a new classification under CESA, providing these species with the same protections afforded to candidate species under CESA.
The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a candidate for listing under the California Endangered Species Act. Photo by Marcus C. England of England|Ecology.