This extra credit Biology
essay got me an A, and helped insure an A for the course ... YIPPPEEEE!!!
THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
In 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species
Act. The Act was passed in response to findings by Congress that growth and
development were responsible for the extinction of species of fish, wildlife and
plants.
This Act was to provide programs to protect
species identified as either endangered or threatened. It also mandated Federal
agencies and departments to protect endangered and threatened species in their
own operations, as well as work with State and local agencies to further promote
conservation and protection of identified species.
By the definition of the Endangered Species
Act, a species covered by the legislation is either classified “Endangered” if
threatened with extinction, or “Threatened” if in a state of decline that might
place it on the endangered list.
As of 23 March 2003, 1262 species of plants and
animals were listed as endangered or threatened by the Endangered Species Act,
with thirty-three species proposed for listing. To date, twenty-six species
have been removed from the list, either due to recovery or the discovery of new
information about their status, while seven were removed due to becoming
extinct.
THIRTY YEARS LATER: NEW LOOKS AT THE SUCCESS OF
THE ACT
There are concerns about the Endangered Species
Act upon business, industry, and property owners, as well as Wildlife groups,
about the effectiveness of the Act in protecting and restoring listed species.
A report from the Ecological Society of America
entitled “Strengthening the Use of Science in Achieving the Goals of the
Endangered Species Act”, calls upon the Federal government to adopt a
more-proactive approach in species preservation. They note that by the time a
species is listed, problems may already have gone too far for that species to
have any chance of recovery. The authors of the report also criticize the
species preservation plans under the Act for not aiming high enough. They felt
“Recovery plans all too often "manage for extinction" rather than for survival”.
The National Wildlife Institute has published
“Conservation Under the Endangered Species Act: A
Promise Broken”. Their critique of the Act includes questioning the programs
undertaken as a result of the Act have played sufficient roles in the recovery
of species that were delisted, as well as questioning the allocation of funding
to programs intended to aid listed species.
The National Endangered Species Act Reform
Coalition is questioning the effectiveness of the Act, as well as its impact on
people. Pointing to the poor progress of removing species from the Endangered
and Threatened lists, the group calls on reform of the Act, to reform the
methods for determining eligibility for listing, opening the listing and
regulatory processes of the Act to include participation from all groups
affected by the legislation, and providing more incentives for private citizens
and businesses to pro-actively participate in conservation of listed species.
MY OPINION
While well-intended, the Act has some
shortcomings, as indicated by the lack of progress in getting species off the
list. This indicates that the programs that are part of the Act are failing to
accomplish their mandated objective.
Also, while biodiversity is crucial to protect,
there are natural processes by which new species arise and others become
extinct. While many things done by man are increasing survival pressures on
some species, are there species which are endangered by natural processes more
than man-made problems?
This Act was passed in 1973. In thirty years,
a lot has changed. Other “overlapping” legislation affecting the environment
has been enacted, the problems facing the environment then and now are
different, and the fields related to environmental science have grown and
changed radically. These and many other changes that could impact the mission
of the Act and should be taken into account.
The goal of protecting biodiversity and
protecting species from the unintended consequences of human habitation on this
planet are important. But anything worth doing is worth doing right. The Act
should be reformed in a manner which will increase cooperation by all interested
parties, and in doing so, help us reach the ultimate objective of the Endangered
Species Act.
SOURCES:
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Ecological
Society of America, The. “Strengthening the Use of Science in Achieving the
Goals of the Endangered Species Act” http://www.esa.org/publications/esarpt.htm
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National Wildlife Institute. “Conservation Under the Endangered Species Act:
A Promise Broken” http://www.nwi.org/SpecialStudies/ESAstudy.html
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. “The Endangered Species Act of 1973” http://endangered.few.gov/esa.html
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