The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the ESA and the impact of the "No Surprises" policy on habitat conservation planning. Habitat conservation planning was initiated in 1982 in response to drawbacks of the ESA. The "No Surprises" policy was introduced in 1994 to mend shortcomings of the habitat conservation planning process. The paper presents three descriptive chapters on the ESA, habitat conservation plans (HCPs), and the "No Surprises" policy, then investigates the HCP process in two case studies.