The Endangered Species Act Turns 50

Almost immediately after enactment of the Endangered Species Act 50 years ago, it was engulfed in controversy that resulted in the Supreme Court enjoining completion of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Tellico Dam because of the expected impact on a recently discovered fish, the snail darter. Many observers believed that the statute would not survive the resulting political backlash. They were wrong. It endured not only that conflict but also other high stakes disputes pitting spotted owls against the logging industry in the Pacific Northwest, sea turtles against the shrimping industry in the Southeast, and still other species against still other formidable interests elsewhere.

While the ESA’s political resilience has been remarkable, its record of accomplishment in recovering imperiled species is more checkered. On average, since the ESA’s enactment, only about one species has been recovered and taken off the endangered and threatened list annually. Meanwhile, the number of species on that list has steadily grown and is now nearly 2,400. Recent studies have concluded that the number of species at risk of extinction dwarfs the number that are now protected or likely ever to be protected.

Though the ESA has withstood political attack, its implementation is frequently characterized by controversy. The designation of critical habitat, which must be done for every listed species, is almost always contentious, yet its impact is generally significant only on federal lands. On private and other non-federal lands, large-scale Habitat Conservation Plans have been effective in reconciling development and conservation objectives, but they have been costly to prepare and are spotty in their distribution.

Since the ESA’s enactment, new threats have emerged that were unknown, or nearly so, a half century ago. The most dramatic of these, of course, is climate change. Novel diseases, like the white-nose syndrome that has decimated many bat species, represent another potent stressor that the act’s authors did not anticipate.

In light of the experience gained over the past half century, the time seems right for an assessment of how well the ESA is working and how it might be made to work better.