The Endangered Species Act is Endangered

Last year the Obama administration proposed a serious curtailment of the Endangered Species Act. Currently a species is listed as endangered if its survival is “in danger of extinction in all or a significant portion of its range."

The administration wants to deemphasize the “significant portion” part of the law. To be listed for protection a species would need to be threatened with total extinction, not just extirpation of that species from an area where it now lives. An example of what this change to the law would mean is best given by Noah Greenwald of the Center For Biological Diversity. He says, “If this policy had been in place when the Endangered Species Act was passed, the bald eagle would never have been protected in any of the lower 48 states, because there were still a lot of eagles up in Alaska.”

            But there is a good development. A group of scientists and 87 conservation groups have petitioned the administration to maintain the current approach to protecting wildlife.

            Wildlife protection plummeted under George W. Bush. Under his administration only 60 species were listed for protection under the ESA. (His father’s administration listed 231.)
After such a poor performance, one would hope that the current administration would be much more committed to making a difference for the natural world. It is disappointing to find that Obama has not done so.