More than 2,400 plants and animals were named as protected species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and its two predecessors over the last 60 years. In what’s widely considered an incredible conservation success, 99 percent of those species still exist.
What is the U.S. Endangered Species Act?
Spurred by rising alarm over the decline of several well-loved species and the birth of the modern environmental movement, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law in 1973.
The act directs Congress and all federal agencies to protect and aid in the recovery of the plants and animals listed as threatened or endangered within the act, banning them from funding or performing actions likely to threaten a listed species. That responsibility includes things like safeguarding critical habitat from potentially harmful activities like logging or drilling, banning the sale of products made from species on the list, re-introducing captive-bred animals and nursery-grown plants to the wild, and prohibiting the hunting, harming or capturing of endangered species.
The legislation went on to become a powerful conservation tool, giving people and public-interest groups the leverage to take legal action against federal agencies that were too slow to act or not acting at all.
How are plants and animals added to the list of protected species?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determine whether a species belongs on the list, but anyone can petition to add a species. The agencies consider destruction of habitat, overuse, disease, predation and inadequacy of protection, among other factors impacting the species. Once a species is listed, agency biologists launch recovery plans, and federal actions that jeopardize its existence are prohibited — as is the trade, collection, harm, or hunting of the species without a permit.
Is the Endangered Species Act effective?
Broadly speaking, the effort is working. By 2023, 55 protected species rebounded enough to be removed from the list, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thirty-seven of those were delisted over the last decade alone, and another 56 initially listed as endangered are now downlisted to threatened. Over 1,600 species remain protected.
What are some species the Endangered Species Act has helped to save?
One of the highest-profile recoveries is the national bird. The bald eagle landed in the first cohort of protected species after concern for its dwindling population inspired the early versions of the Endangered Species Act. More than 30 years of habitat protection and conservation efforts later, it was delisted in 2007. Today, the population is estimated to be over 300,000 birds, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That includes more than 70,000 breeding pairs, up from the lowest point of just 417 pairs in 1963. The species remains federally protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The grizzly bear was also an early addition to the protected list. An estimated 50,000 bears roamed North America before westward expansion exploded in the 1800s. After almost two centuries of human-wildlife conflict, government-sponsored hunting and habitat loss, the bears were eventually segmented into small, scattered pockets of survivors. The grizzly was listed as threatened in 1975 and remains listed today. Slowly, that protection is allowing the bears to grow in numbers. Roughly 1,900 grizzly bears now traverse the lower 48 states, primarily in recovery zones in the northwest, according to Congress. In Yellowstone National Park, for example, just 30 females were recorded in 1982. Today, the park is home to over 700 bears. Still, grizzlies have regained just 6 percent of their historical range, and their inclusion on the list is a frequent topic of debate.
Does the Endangered Species Act only protect U.S. plants and animals?
While the Endangered Species Act is U.S. legislation, protected species are not limited to plants and animals on U.S. soil. Some Endangered Species Act conservation efforts are connected to U.S. participation in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Enacted in 1975 and enforced by 184 countries and the European Union, the agreement ensures international trade doesn’t threaten species’ survival.
The early cast of listed species from outside of the country included African elephants. They were added to the Endangered Species Act in 1978 after poaching and habitat loss devastated the population. Working in tandem with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, lawmakers created regulation for imports of live African elephants and sport-hunted trophies into the United States, strict limitations on imports and exports of their ivory, and eventually, the African Elephant Conservation Fund. The elephants are still protected under the act today. While their numbers are rebounding in protected areas, populations are still in decline overall.
What’s next for species conservation?
Even as some species slowly recover, many more linger on the protected list while it continues to grow. The act has yet to meet its initial projection to recover 300 species by 2023, and many species have gone extinct regardless of protections.
Experts argue that the current list is a small percentage of the number of plants and animals likely in need of protection across the country. Scientists at the Center for Biological Diversity estimate that more than double the number of species currently listed need safeguarding to avoid extinction. Most are unlikely to be considered quickly enough to avoid that fate, considering only 32 species are added to the list on an average year.
The slow pace is likely partially due to shifting political winds. The Endangered Species Act received vast bipartisan support when it was signed. That unraveled by the 1980s, and the act has since become politically controversial. Various presidents and members of congress advanced and rolled back protections over the decades to align with their political agendas.
Most recently, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration waived Endangered Species Act regulations in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas companies, citing national security concerns. As a result, federal agencies will no longer need to ensure new drilling operations are unlikely to jeopardize protected plants and animals in the gulf — which is home to endangered species like whooping cranes, Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and the world’s last Rice’s whales — before they begin. It is only the third time the U.S. Endangered Species Committee has approved an exemption in the history of the act.
Environmental groups filed several lawsuits against the decision. They argue the exemption is unprecedented, illegal, and a threat to the environmental health of the region and the Endangered Species Act as a whole. The legal battles are still playing out.
Despite political back and forth, studies have found that public support for the act remained consistently high, at about 84 percent, over the last three decades.
Feature image credit: James St. John/Flickr
