The Endagered Species Act Turns 30
Published courtesy of ESW member World Wildlife Fund in their newsletter, Focus.
Enacted by Congress in 1973 with overwhelming bipartisan support, and signed into law by President Richard Nixon, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted to protect endangered and threatened species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. To date, the ESA has contributed to the recovery of many species, including the country's national symbol, the bald eagle. Other endangered species that have been brought back from the brink of extinction due to the ESA include gray wolves, now back in Yellowstone Park; black-footed ferrets, reintroduced in the Northern Great Plains; and sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic, now protected from drowning in shrimp nets.
"The ESA is the shining light of our nation's environmental laws and has served as a beacon to the world," said Bob Irvin, director of the World Wildlife Fund's U.S. Conservation Program. "Saving species and their habitats is an investment in our national heritage and a legacy we pass on to future generations."
The ESA was last authorized in 1988, with the expectation that it would continue to be regularly reauthorized. Since 1988, however, a congressional stalemate has developed over the ESA as supporters fend off efforts to weaken the law and critics call for reform. Consequently, Congress has failed to reauthorize the law, relying instead on annual appropriations measures to fund ESA implementation.
While ESA authorization has been stalled, conservation of threatened and endangered species and their habitats has suffered. The number of U.S. species listed under the ESA has grown, from 753 in 1992 to 1,290 in 2003.
"The continued stalemate over ESA reauthorization is harming both endangered species and those whose activities are regulated by the law," Irvin said.
The ESA plays a critical role in many of the priority ecoregions World Wildlife Fund works to protect, including the Klamath-Siskiyou forests, home to endangered salmon and the northern spotted owl; Southeast rivers and streams, which provide habitat for numerous endangered fish, mussels and snails; the Northern Great Plains, home to the endangered black-footed ferret; and South Florida, where endangered species such as the wood stork and the American crocodile inhabit the Everglades and the Florida Keys. The ESA is also important to international conservation: The U.S. implements its obligations to prevent illegal wildlife trade under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species through the ESA.
In order to end the stalemate over ESA reauthorization, World Wildlife Fund has proposed that a National Commission on Endangered Species Conservation Reform be established. This independent blue-ribbon commission could be charged with finding ways to strengthen endangered species conservation and making the ESA work better for those whose activities it regulates.
"The United States should not relinquish its role as global leader in species conservation," Irvin said. "After a decade of deadlock, it is time to build on the success of the ESA by looking at new approaches that enhance species conservation, and improving compliance with the ESA."
