About the Decision Clock
ConservaNode lists decisions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the dates the law sets for them. Each date links to the public document it comes from.
ConservaNode is an independent personal project. No government agency runs it or backs it. It is not legal advice.
Where the records come from
All records come from public documents of the U.S. government. We read three sources.
ECOS, the species database of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It gives each species, its status, and the petitions people have sent.
The Federal Register, where the agency publishes its findings and rules. We read the notices and rules under section 4 of the Act.
The National Listing Workplan of the Fish and Wildlife Service. It lists the actions planned for each fiscal year, and the dates a court has set.
Records are current to October 24, 2026. Our Federal Register record starts on October 24, 2024. Earlier notices are not on the record yet. Records name species and agencies, not people.
How the dates are worked out
The Act gives the agency a set time for each step. We start from a date in a public document, such as the day a petition was received or a proposed rule was published. Then we add the time the law gives. The law is 16 U.S.C. 1533.
| Step | Time | Law |
|---|---|---|
| 90-day finding | 90 days | 16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(A) (the law says: “to the maximum extent practicable”) |
| 12-month finding | 12 months | 16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(B) |
| Warranted-but-precluded re-finding | every 12 months | 16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(3)(C)(i) |
| Final rule | 12 months | 16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(6)(A) |
| Critical habitat with listing | 12 months | 16 U.S.C. 1533(a)(3)(A)(i), (b)(6)(C) (the law says: “to the maximum extent prudent and determinable”) |
| 5-year review | every 5 years | 16 U.S.C. 1533(c)(2)(A) (the law says: “at least once every five years”) |
Some dates can move. A final rule may take 6 more months when experts disagree a lot about whether the available data are enough or correct (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(6)(B)(i)). The date for critical habitat may move 12 months when the habitat cannot yet be pinned down (16 U.S.C. 1533(b)(6)(C)(ii)). A court can also set its own date.
Each change is shown with its own citation, and a court date names the workplan it comes from.
When a date has passed, the page says so in a fixed form: the date, the rule, and whether the step is in the Federal Register as of a day. We state what was published and when. We do not judge.
How we check the dates
We check a random sample of 100 items: dates, the steps a document takes, and the species it covers. An AI model, Claude, checks each item against the public document or record it comes from.
A second AI test runs on its own. It checks 50 of our claims: Claude looks each one up on the official sites, and we compare its answer with ours.
A third, stronger AI check then settles the hard items. These are the items the first check marked wrong or could not settle, the items where the two checks disagree, and 10 more picked at random.
The dates go on the main site only if at least 95 of the 100 items are judged correct. An item the checks are unsure about counts as wrong.
No person has verified the dates. Before you rely on a date, check it against the Federal Register notice or other public record it links to.
If you find an error, please tell us on the corrections page.
Labels you may see
Preliminary. A date marked preliminary counts from a record that AI software read out of a document’s text. No person has checked it. The label stays until a check of the dates by a person passes. It reads: “Preliminary: AI software read the record this date counts from. AI (Claude) checked a sample of the dates; no person has verified them.”
Inferred from the petition title. An inferred link is made only when a petition’s title names exactly one species, by its exact name. If a title names several species, a group, or a population, we make no link.
Errors and corrections
If you find an error, please tell us. Read how on the corrections page, or write to [email protected]. We aim to reply within 5 working days, and we hide a record while we check it if it may name a person or misstate a case.
Check the Federal Register document before you rely on a date. The data is free to use under CC0. You can download it.