Fifty years of success
The Endangered Species Act is one of our most powerful tools for combating extinction and promoting species recovery.
First passed in 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has helped protect thousands of species from extinction and other threats over its more than 50 years of enforcement. The act is so effective that over 99% of species ever listed by it have avoided extinction.
However, the once broadly supported, bipartisan bill could soon face fundamental changes that threaten to weaken the efficacy and scope of the act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service have proposed a regulatory change that could undermine decades of work and put the future of hundreds of species in jeopardy.
Endangered Species Act protections for wildlife habitat is under threat
Imagine if you came home one day and somebody had demolished your house and paved over your yard. Yet the perpetrator claimed that because they didn’t strike you directly, they can’t be held accountable for causing you harm.
That’s analogous to the situation that endangered animals may soon be facing.
The regulatory change under consideration would weaken the definition of “harm” in the ESA, which under the current interpretation includes any action that would damage habitat and impair usual animal behavior.
Under the new interpretation, threats to endangered and protected species, including pollution, habitat destruction and fragmentation, would now be both legal and possible as long as they don’t directly harm the physical animal itself.
This could mean birds with nothing but stumps in which to build their nest, deer with nothing but concrete left to graze, or fish with nothing but toxic water left to absorb, would all be considered just fine.
Three wild places and the threatened species that call these places home
Unlike with some government policies, the consequences of the ESA are visible to anybody who cares to look. The ESA protects real species, species you can observe and admire, in real habitats, habitats you can explore and cherish.
In order to showcase the importance of these special places, and the many fascinating animals and ecosystems they protect, we will be looking at a few unique and threatened species and the habitats they call home.
The whooping cranes of the Platt River Valley, Nebraska
The whooping crane, the tallest bird species in North America, undergoes a nearly 2,400 mile migration between Canada and Texas. The Platte River Valley and its wetlands provide an essential stop during this long journey, providing vital resting, roosting and feeding areas for tired birds.
There are only about 500 whooping cranes left in the wild. Now, that may seem low, but in 1970, (before the passing of the ESA), there were only a few dozen cranes left, after a century of hunting, development and agriculture decimated their populations and habitats.
Under ESA protections, whooping cranes are recovering and hinting at thriving. While their numbers are still low, they’re nowhere near the crisis faced in 1970. Yet, the proposed ESA rollbacks could undermine this slow, but steady, progress.
These crucial wetlands in the Platt River Valley could now be opened up to development. Industries like hydropower hinder wildlife movement and disrupt aquatic breeding areas, potentially limiting the fish, amphibians and crabs these cranes rely on. Other threats like suburban or industrial sprawl could destroy wetlands, making it difficult for whooping cranes to take a much needed rest and meal after their thousand mile flight.
Not only are whooping cranes an impressive and unique species that undergoes a truly monolithic migration, they are also a symbol of the effectiveness of the ESA and its protections. Under ESA stewardship, whooping crane populations are relatively stable. What was once considered a doomed species is now cherished by thousands who travel from across the globe to witness these birds and their long, graceful forms glide over the grasslands during their migration.
The black-footed ferrets of the Red Desert, Wyoming
The black-footed ferret is one of the rarest and most endangered mammals in North America. These curious mustelids are the only ferret species native to the Americas. They are largely solitary animals that have a diet made up nearly entirely of prairie dogs.
Declared extinct in 1979, a small residual population was found to still be thriving in Wyoming in 1981. The species was declared endangered and efforts were made to begin the long and arduous process of bringing the species back from the brink. Now there are somewhere between 300 and 400 black-footed ferrets living in the wild today, although experts estimate they’ll need about 3,000 individuals to fully recover the species.
One place to find these elusive little predators is the Red Desert in south-central Wyoming. This seemingly barren ecosystem isn’t just home to black-footed ferrets and the many prairie dogs needed to sustain them, the area also boasts the largest migratory herd of pronghorn antelopes in the lower 48, as well as the largest desert elk herd in the world. This region also harbors hundreds of other animal species and over a thousand different plants.
Unfortunately, an estimated 84% of the Red Desert has already been industrialized by oil and gas drilling, mining operations and associated roads. This is devastating for prairie dogs who are particularly vulnerable to these habitat threats. These energetic burrowers have already disappeared from much of their historic range, with black-tailed prairie dogs having lost about 99% of their historic habitat. Without the healthy prairie dog colonies they rely on, black-footed ferrets cannot continue their slow recovery.
Further development and habitat loss could have disastrous consequences for black-footed ferrets and the other species that call this unique region home. Black-footed ferrets are a poster child for endangered species and recovery, but if we can’t continue to protect the areas these rare critters and their prey call home, then they may soon be lost once again.
The Eastern hellbenders of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee
The Eastern hellbender is the largest salamander in North America and the 4th largest in the entire world. How big you may ask, a few inches, half a foot maybe … Well, no. These unusual amphibians can reach lengths of 30 inches and weigh up to five pounds.
Found in clean, clear mountain streams throughout the park, Hellbenders are a great indicator of water quality, a sort of aquatic canary in a coal mine. These massive salamanders breathe almost entirely through their skin, losing their gills at roughly two years old, still just a kid for a species that can live up to nearly 30 years in captivity.
Hellbenders are fully aquatic, spending the entirety of their lives underwater, where they walk along the stream bed using their flat bodies and long tails to avoid being swept away by the fast moving water they frequent.
Oddly enough, hellbenders aren’t the only famous salamanders to be found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountains are actually considered the “salamander capital of the world”, boasting more salamander species than any other location on the planet, including four recently discovered since 2020.
Unfortunately, hellbenders and their cousins are under threat. The development of dams, along with logging and mining have had a substantial impact on water quality throughout the incredibly biodiverse southern Appalachia. Hellbenders, and other salamanders, are highly sensitive these changes in water flow and quality.
Researchers assert that these industries may be largely responsible for a clear decline in hellbender populations throughout the eastern U.S. Historically, 626 populations of hellbenders have been documented across various sites; recent data puts that number at 371, with 218 of those remaining populations in decline.
Hellbenders are not actually considered endangered under the ESA, but there have been, and currently are, proposals being reviewed to add them to the list. Hopefully, by receiving ESA protections, the habitats and streams used by hellbenders can be kept pristine and better protected from these destructive and pollutive practices.
After all, we can’t risk losing such a bizarre and unique species.
We need the Endangered Species Act to protect wildlife and their habitat
The ESA has worked effectively for 50 years, across habitats, biomes and species, particularly because of its ability to address habitat loss and ecosystem deprivation on top of direct physical threats to species.
The ESA was created with a relatively simple mission, to prevent extinction and protect threatened species. Without being able to address one of the root causes of extinction and biodiversity loss — habitat destruction — the ESA is effectively unable to fulfill that mission.
This proposed rule could overturn over decades of bipartisan conservation. Conservation that allowed iconic American species like the gray wolf, grizzly bear, bald eagle, and many others, to survive and recover.
The natural world is an infinitely complex and interconnected tapestry, one that can be undone by removing a single thread. Species are not abstract ideas or self-correcting computers; they are tied to real, physical environments that they have adapted to, and evolved with, for millions of years. When you harm an ecosystem’s health you’re inherently harming the health of the species that call it home as well.
For all these reasons and more, we are urging the Fish and Wildlife Service, and all related agencies, to not reinterpret the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act.
Some species have lived in these lands for thousands, if not millions, of years. Who are we to stop them now?
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Steve directs Environment America’s efforts to protect our public lands and waters and the species that depend on them. He led our successful campaign to win full and permanent funding for our nation’s best conservation and recreation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. He previously oversaw U.S. PIRG’s public health campaigns. Steve lives in Sacramento, California, with his family, where he enjoys biking and exploring Northern California.
