Endangered Species

Would you like having your children live in a world where the great American Bald Eagle no longer soars through our skies? Would you wipe the last existing members of an animal species off the face of this earth just to grade a field for a mall parking lot? Believe it or not, some people and industries would not think twice about doing so. But thanks to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, these people who care nothing about Mother Nature and the future of our ecosystem cannot do so. I am one hundred percent for the Endangered Species Act and every thing it represents.

In the following paper I will defend the Endangered Species Act and even try to persuade those who even dare to imagine reconsidering this bill. In order to choose any side on this topic, one must first know and understand the Endangered Species Act and the laws and policies that were created by it.

The Endangered Species Act, or ESA for short, was passed by congress and became law in 1973. It is one of many federal laws such as the Lacey Act, the Bird Treaty Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Bald Eagle Protection Act, but it is the most important one by far (Http://www.fws.gov/r9endspp/endspp.html, 1). The Endangered Species Act was developed for many reasons. In the mid sixties Congress started to notice that the country was rapidly growing due to technological advances and population increase, and that this growth was causing threat and extinction to some of Americas native species (Http://www.fws.gov/r9endspp/endspp.html, 2). Previous bills did not provide the protection that was needed to protect these animals so congress went about devising a bill that would protect any species threatened and also its habitat. The Endangered Species Act was the first piece of environmental legislation that actually protected an endangered species habitat. This unique aspect is one of the ESA's must powerful tools. "The purpose of the ESA is to conserve "the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species and subspecies depend" and to conserve and recover listed species"(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services). This means that we must protect and conserve the habitat that provides everything we need to survive and human welfare itself. The three goals of ESA are to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species, and to take such steps as may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and conventions (Endangered Species Act 1988).

The ESA works by doing four principal things, the listing of endangered or threatened species, the protection of endangered or threatened species, establishment of critical habitat, and recovery planning for the endangered or threatened species. The first thing that must happen before any animal or plant can be protected by federal actions is that it must be listed as an endangered or threatened species. Any person can petition the government for a plant or animal to be added to the list. The listing of animals as endangered species has been a source of controversy because sometimes it is hard to determine exactly what species an animal or plant is or even if it is its own species all together (Http://www.fws.gov/r9endspp/endspp.html, 4). Under the ESA in order for an animal to be listed it has to be researched and studied thoroughly before it even makes it on the list. Usually this process takes at least twenty-seven months unless there is an emergency in which an animal is listed immediately. This exert from the ESA explains the determination of a species to be listed. "The Secretary of the Interior shall by regulation promulgate whether any species is an endangered species or a threatened species because of any of the following factors: (A) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B) over utilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) disease or predation; (D) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; (E) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence." As soon as a species has been formally listed as threatened or endangered, it is entitled to certain regulatory protections under the Act. One of the most important protections is the prohibiting of taking an endangered or threatened species.

In the ESA taking is defined as the harassment, harming, pursuance, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting, or attempt to engage in any such conduct, which would harm any animal or plant listed. Another form of protection requires all federal agencies to ensure that any actions they authorize, fund or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or to change the listed species designated critical habitat. This prevents actions such as construction of roads and dams that would harm an endangered species. This also includes indirect actions such as granting of permits, leases and licenses and establishing contracts and regulations that will result in critical habitat damage.

Furthermore, in the Endangered Species Act, it is required that critical habitat be set up for threatened and endangered species when needed. Critical habitat is areas that are crucial to a species survival that may need protection or management. This critical habitat is set up to conserve the species and allow it to recover. The critical habitat may also include areas that are not yet inhabited by a species so that it can expand its range while increasing its population. A critical habitat is mostly designated on federal lands and lands purchased by the Federal Government but they can include private property. "Since so many environmentally destructive activities (such as mining, logging, dam building, recreational development, etc.) takes place on federal lands, are at least financed, or are subject to federal regulations of one sort or another, the act is a powerful force in defense of species and ecosystems" (www.truthout.org/issues_06/022306EA.shtml, 2). The ESA not only protects endangered species but it also helps them recover to a healthy state. The ESA does this and all other functions by working through agencies such as FWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). These agencies with the help of other professionals and other agencies set up recovery plan to aid in a species recovery. These plans usually include such actions as additional biological research, protection of critical habitat, captive breeding programs or reintroduction efforts. Since it's passing in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has been the strongest and most noble environmental law passed in the United States (Http://www.fws.gov/r9endspp/endspp.html,