Happy 50th, ESA

Dec. 28, 1973, the Endangered Species Act has set the standard for conservation for the last 50 years

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed by Congress, Dec. 28, 1973.¹ It became law when it was signed by Pres. Nixon (Republican) that same day.

The U.S. Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" [the ESA] "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost."² The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

The Endangered Species Act is the only statute that can actually stop a project, unlike its useful cousin the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 that requires consideration of the environmental impacts of all major federal projects significantly affecting the human environment; but cannot stop any project from going forward. As my environmental law professor, Prof. James Salzman, said to our Environmental Law class, “it is the only federal environmental statute with teeth.”³ It gave me a new-found appreciation for ESA.

Focus has shifted over the years from just the individual animal to its habitat that reflects the understanding of the interrelatedness of species. Simply focusing on numbers of individuals in a species born each year, it became evident that without the sufficient supporting habitat, births could not result in repopulation. So habitat conservation plans became pivotal in the listing process.

Signed in 1973, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) became powerful international law. The treaty includes an enforcement tool for all signatory nations that allows them to post their own nation’s endangered species list to give notice to all other nations to help monitor and enforce the protection of their endangered species. This has been tremendously effective and works because of the worldwide cooperation in guarding against illegal trade of endangered species. The U.S. Endangered Species Act has served as a model for many of the 184 signatory nations to the CITES treaty.⁴

So this week I want to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act by making all “unintended consequences” articles on endangered species over the past year, available to you here.

1. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/93/s1983/text

2. Tennessee Valley Auth. v. Hill, 437 U.S. 153, 153 (1978). at https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/437/153/

3. Quote from memory which is pretty close but maybe not exact!

4. https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1265&context=wmelpr