Endangered Species Act 50th Anniversary

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted in 1973 to prevent the loss or harm of endangered and threatened species and to preserve the places they live. For over half a century, the ESA has proven to be one of the most effective wildlife conservation laws, credited with saving 99 percent of the species it protects.  But it has done so much more than just prevent extinction. 

Now in its 50th year, the ESA stands testament to the power of partnerships and the conservation successes we can achieve working together.  Today, hundreds of species are stable or improving thanks to conservation actions undertaken by federal agencies, state and local governments, conservation organizations, and private citizens.  Many others have recovered to self-sustaining levels and no longer depend on federal protection for survival.  

Although we have made considerable progress in safeguarding our imperiled species and their habitats since the passage of the ESA, the challenges we face are ongoing. Loss of habitat and introduction of invasive species are the most serious threats to vulnerable species and their habitats. Additionally, climate change promises to expand the scope and complexity of these problems.

As we look to the next 50 years and beyond, a renewed commitment to species conservation and the ESA is vital.  It is up to all of us to continue the success of the ESA so future generations may experience the natural heritage we all cherish.

— U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

In honor of this historic anniversary TRT, along with a long list of environmental partners in the United States, signed on to a letter to President Joe Biden urging the administration to take bold actions so that national policies to prevent  extinction, recover species, and address the biodiversity crisis are even more successful during  the next 50 years than they have been in the previous 50 years. 

ESA at 50 Coalition Letter to President Biden

September 13, 2023  

President Joseph R. Biden Jr.  
The White House  
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.  
Washington, D.C. 20500  

Re: Meeting the Challenges of the Biodiversity and Extinction Crisis Over the Next 50 Years  Dear Mr. President:  

The Endangered Species Act is one of the most successful conservation laws ever enacted by any  nation. It has prevented the extinction of the overwhelming majority of wildlife and plant species  under its protection. As our country, the Departments of the Interior and Commerce, and our  organizations all commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Act and its extraordinary  achievements, we must recognize that our planet faces an existential crisis with more and more  species facing extinction in the coming decades.  

Thus, as we reflect and celebrate the Endangered Species Act’s achievements, we ask that you  initiate bold action that mobilizes the entirety of the federal government to stem the loss of  biodiversity and halt the global extinction crisis. Importantly, this includes consulting with Tribal  governments and honoring federal trust obligations to Tribal communities, which has too often  been overlooked and under prioritized. To truly be a success, a whole-of-government approach  must also recognize and incorporate indigenous knowledge and practices to support conservation  and biodiversity, safeguard the rights and needs of indigenous peoples, and ensure social equity  and justice in decision-making.  

The unraveling of the natural world remains a fundamental threat to the well-being of all  humanity, which depends on millions of species and the countless services that the web of life  provides. Each extinction brings closer the collapse of these planetary life-support systems,  including carbon sequestration, pollination, water purification, oxygen production and disease  regulation. To regain the United States’ position as a global leader in conservation and prevent  mass extinctions, we all must take swift action that matches the extent and scale of the problem.  Accordingly, we ask you to take the following bold actions so that national policies to prevent  extinction, recover species, and address the biodiversity crisis are even more successful during  the next 50 years than they have been in the previous 50 years. 

1. Implement Whole of Government Approaches to Saving Biodiversity and  Endangered Species  

A national biodiversity strategy is needed to articulate the nation’s commitment to stemming the  biodiversity and extinction crises at home and abroad. The strategy would serve as a blueprint for  a whole-of-government response to tackling species extinction and addressing the primary  threats to biodiversity, ecosystem services and ultimately, humanity. The strategy should address  the five drivers of biodiversity loss — habitat degradation and fragmentation, climate change,  wildlife exploitation, invasive species, and pollution; secure and restore critical ecosystem  services; and reestablish the nation as a global leader in biodiversity conservation. 

This approach would mobilize a stronger, more coordinated national response to the existential  challenge we are facing. The strategy would direct federal agencies to pursue actions within  existing laws and policies and promote innovation for developing new tools to protect  biodiversity. It would also provide governments, corporations, and non-profits with a roadmap  for actions needed to address the crisis’ major drivers.  

2. Boost Recovery of Endangered Species Through Robust Funding and Engaging  Agencies Across Government  

The Endangered Species Act has been fiscally starved for decades and, as a result, has been  severely compromised from realizing its full potential. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  currently receives less than half of the funding required to fully implement the Act’s mandate to  recover listed species. The Department of the Interior should support, and the Congress should  fund, an increase to well over $800 million for the Service’s endangered species conservation.  Significant increases also should be provided for the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected  Resources Science and Management program.  

In addition, the Endangered Species Act contains a long-neglected requirement found in Section  7(a)(1) that requires all federal agencies to prioritize the conservation and recovery of  endangered species. Unfortunately, most federal agencies have not fully embraced their  obligation, and some have patently ignored their obligation to conserve listed animals and plants.  Thus, the Departments of the Interior and Commerce should:  

● Direct all federal agencies — in consultation with Tribal and Indigenous communities —  to finalize proactive conservation programs that advance the conservation of endangered  species and help to restore declining wildlife and plants.  
● Direct the Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the  Secretary of Commerce, through the National Marine Fisheries Service, to establish  minimum requirements for what a conservation program shall include. The goal and  guiding principle of any such program must ultimately be the proactive, landscape-level  conservation and recovery of the species.  

3. Adopt an Ambitious Ecosystem-based Framework to Recover Endangered Species  and Rebuild America’s Wildlife Populations  

Globally, one million animal and plant species face extinction within the coming decades and  millions more are declining as habitat loss, climate change, wildlife exploitation, pollution, and  other human activities continue to threaten their survival. In North America alone, we have lost  nearly three billion birds since 1970.1 During that same time frame, global wildlife populations  have declined by an average of 69%.2 Here in the United States, nearly half of all ecosystems are  at risk of range-wide collapse.3  

Conserving threatened and endangered species is not limited to merely preventing their  extinction. Under the Endangered Species Act, the conservation of listed species encompasses  the much more ambitious goal of recovering them “the point at which the measures provided  pursuant to this Act are no longer required.”4 Yet despite the paramount importance of recovery  in the Endangered Species Act, the concept of what “recovery” means remains poorly defined. In  addition, recovery criteria are often inconsistently applied across species and lack a clear  biological rationale. The current approach too often focuses exclusively on biological extinction  risk to gauge recovery and fails to consider the important roles myriad species play in the  ecosystems they live in. For example, when a keystone species disappears, the entire ecosystem  is disrupted, causing cascading changes that can have harmful, far-ranging consequences.  

Thus, confronting the widespread loss of biodiversity will require the Biden administration to  implement a more ambitious, ecosystem-based framework that not only repairs what has been  harmed but rebuilds populations of wildlife and plant species so that our natural heritage can be  preserved for generations and centuries to come. Perhaps the best example of what recovery  should look like is the Bald Eagle, which achieved healthy and increasing populations in nearly  all 50 states and is now a meaningful part of a diverse spectrum of habitats and ecosystems.  

Therefore, we urge the Biden administration to rapidly adopt a more holistic approach to  recovery that considers not only minimum viable populations, but also a species’ role in the  ecosystems it inhabits, as the Act originally envisioned. In doing so, the administration should  prioritize the protection of key areas that will increase ecosystem resiliency and preserve  biodiversity hotspots in the United States, the habitat of critically endangered species, and the  diversity of habitats found across the nation.  

Combating the global wildlife extinction crisis, stemming the loss of biodiversity, and restoring  our natural heritage will require the Biden administration to be bolder and more visionary than  any other administration in history. There is no time to waste. The actions we take today will  affect whether future generations live in a world where Polar Bears and Monarch Butterflies still  exist, or one where they can only be found in zoos. Thus, we urge the Biden administration to  take these bold steps to ensure that the Endangered Species Act and much-needed, new  initiatives to conserve biodiversity continue to save and restore the natural world around us for  another 50 years and beyond.  

Sincerely,  

See the full list of partner here.