Endangered Species Act Totally Explained

The Endangered Species Act ( et seq.) of 1973 or ESA was the most wide-ranging of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. This act was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction due to "the consequences of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation".

History

In 1972 President Nixon declared the current approach inadequate and called on Congress to pass comprehensive endangered species legislation. Congress responded by creating the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It was signed into law by Nixon on December 28, 1973. 1973 also saw the creation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES is an international agreement restricting international commerce in plant and animal species believed to be actually or potentially harmed by trade. The U.S. CITES list includes all species protected by the ESA in addition to species which are vulnerable but not yet threatened or endangered.
   The stated purpose of the Endangered Species Act isn't only to protect species, but also "the ecosystems upon which they depend." It encompasses plants and invertebrates as well as vertebrates. It doesn't expressly include fungi, which were widely considered to be plants in 1973.
   The ESA forbids Federal Agencies from authorizing, funding or carrying out actions which may "jeopardize the continued existence of" endangered or threatened species (Section 7(a) (2)). It forbids any government agency, corporation, or citizen from taking (for example harming, harassing, or killing) endangered animals without a permit. Once a species is listed as threatened or endangered, the ESA also requires that "critical habitat" be designated for that species, including areas necessary to recover the species (Section 3(5) (A)). Federal agencies are forbidden from authorizing, funding, or carrying out any action which "destroys or adversely modifies" critical habitat (Section 7(a) (2)).
   ESA is administered by two federal agencies, the FWS and NOAA Fisheries (formerly the National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS). NOAA Fisheries handles marine species, and the FWS has responsibility over freshwater fish and all other species. Species that occur in both habitats (for example sea turtles and Atlantic sturgeon) are jointly managed.
   The Act contains a citizen suit clause, (Section 11) which allows citizens to sue the government to enforce the law. The first major legal challenge was over the Tennessee Valley Authority's Tellico Dam and Tellico Reservoir, which threatened to extirpate the snail darter fish. See snail darter controversy for more information.
Listing
The ESA only protects species which are officially listed as "threatened" or "endangered". A species can be listed in two ways. The first is for the FWS or NOAA Fisheries to take the initiative and directly list the species. The second is via individual or organizational petition which prompts FWS or NMFS to conduct a scientific review. There are two categories on the list, endangered and threatened. Endangered species are closer to extinction than threatened species. A third status is that of "candidate species". Under this status, the FWS has concluded that listing is warranted but immediate listing is precluded due to other priorities (limited time, perhaps political pressure to delay listing).
   The annual rate of listing (for example classifying species as "threatened" or "endangered") increased steadily from the Ford administration (15) through Carter (31), Reagan (32), George H. W. Bush (59), and Clinton (65), but declined under George W. Bush (8 per year as of 12/31/05). The rate of listing is strongly correlated with citizen involvement and mandatory timelines: as agency discretion decreases and citizen involvement increases (for example filing of petitions and lawsuits) the rate of listing increases.
   Many species have become extinct while on the candidate list or otherwise under consideration for listing; very few have become extinct while listed as threatened or endangered.
Recovery plans
FWS and NOAA Fisheries are required to create a Recovery Plan outlining the goals, tasks required, likely costs, and estimated timeline to recover endangered species (for example increase their numbers and improve their management to the point where they can be removed from the endangered list). The ESA doesn't specify when a recovery plan must be completed. The FWS has a policy specifying completion within three years of the species being listed, but the average time to completion is approximately six years.
   The ESA requires that critical habitat be designated at the time of or within one year of a species being placed on the endangered list. In practice, most designations occur several years after listing. Twenty-three others have been downlisted from "endangered" to "threatened" status. Some have argued that the recovery of DDT-threatened species such as the bald eagle, brown pelican and peregrine falcon should be attributed to the 1973 congressional ban on DDT rather than the Endangered Species Act, however, the listing of these species as endangered was a substantial cause of congress instituting the ban and many non-DDT oriented actions were taken on their behalf under the Endangered Species Act (for example captive breeding, habitat protection, and protection from disturbance).
   Few species have become extinct while listed under the Endangered Species Act, and 93% have had their population sizes increase or remain stable since being listed as threatened or endangered. As of April 3, 2007, there are 1,326 species on the threatened and endangered lists.
   Species which increased in population size since being placed on the endangered list include:

Bald Eagle (increased from 417 to 9,250 pairs between 1963 and 2006)
Whooping Crane (increased from 54 to 436 birds between 1967 and 2003)
Kirtland's Warbler (increased from 210 to 1,415 pairs between 1971 and 2005)
Peregrine Falcon (increased from 324 to 1,700 pairs between 1975 and 2000)
Gray Wolf (populations increased dramatically in the Northern Rockies, Southwest, and Great Lakes)
Gray Whale (increased from 13,095 to 26,635 whales between 1968 and 1998)
Grizzly bear (increased from about 271 to over 580 bears in the Yellowstone area between 1975 and 2005).
California’s Southern Sea Otter (increased from 1,789 in 1976 to 2,735 in 2005)
San Clemente Indian Paintbrush (increased from 500 plants in 1979 to more than 3,500 in 1997)
Florida's Red Wolf (increased from 17 in 1980 to 257 in 2003)
Florida's Key Deer (increased from 200 in 1971 to 750 in 2001)
Big Bend Gambusia (increased from for a couple dozen to a population of over 50,000)
Hawaiian Goose (increased from 400 birds in 1980 to 1,275 in 2003)
Virginia Big-Eared Bat (increased from 3,500 in 1979 to 18,442 in 2004)
Note: The Bald Eagle was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species on June 28th, 2007. While the removal decision and paperwork were initiated on the 28th of June, the 'actual' removal will take effect approximately one month from that date. Further protection by law is expected, most likely against killing or disturbing nests.
   The Grizzly bear (Yellowstone, "Northern Grizzly") was removed March 22nd, 2007.

External results
Click here for more details on Endangered Species Act

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