An SCC is a species of conservation concern. This is a Forest Service-specific term that comes from the 2012 Planning Rule and Forest Service Handbook. The regulations help to determine if there is a concern about a particular species’ ability to persist within the forest. An SCC is not a federally threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Forest Service creates a SCC list using the best available science in a proactive step intended to prevent species from becoming federally listed. Threatened and endangered species are federally designated under the ESA of 1973. The ESA was created to protect critically imperiled species from extinction.
