Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
■
Allowing the secretary of the interior to permit a
listed species to become extinct without trying to save
it and to determine whether a species should be
listed.
■
Allowing the secretary of the interior to give any
state, county, or landowner permanent exemption
from the law, with no requirement for public notifica-
tion or comment.
200,000 projects evaluated by the USFWS have been
blocked or canceled as a result of the ESA.
A study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
recommended three major changes to make the ESA
more scientifically sound and effective:
■
Greatly increase the meager funding for imple-
menting the act.
■
Develop recovery plans more quickly.
■
When a species is first listed, establish a core of its
survival habitat as a temporary emergency measure
that could support the species for 25-50 years.
Other critics would go further and do away with
this act. Because this step is politically unpopular with
the American public, most efforts are designed to
weaken the act and reduce its meager funding.
Most biologists and wildlife conservationists be-
lieve the ESA should be changed to emphasize protect-
ing and sustaining biological diversity and ecological
functioning rather than focusing mostly on saving indi-
vidual species. This new ecosystems approach would
follow three principles:
Science: Should the Endangered Species Act
Be Strengthened?
According to most conservation biologists, the
Endangered Species Act should be strengthened and
modified to develop a new system to protect and
sustain the country's biodiversity.
Most conservation biologists and wildlife scientists
agree that the ESA has some deficiencies and needs to
be simplified and streamlined. But they contend that
the ESA has not been a failure (Case Study, below).
They also contest the charge that the ESA has
caused severe economic losses. According to govern-
ment records, since 1979 only 0.05% of the almost
■
Find out what species and ecosystems the country
has.
■
Locate and protect the most endangered ecosys-
tems (Figure 9-17) and species.
■
Provide private landowners who agree to help pro-
tect specific endangered ecosystems with significant
financial incentives (tax breaks and write-offs) and
technical help.
What Has the Endangered Species Act Accomplished?
Critics of the ESA
call it an expensive
failure because
only 37 species
have been re-
moved from the
endangered list. Most biologists
agree that the act needs strengthen-
ing and modification, but insist that
it has not been a failure, for four
reasons.
First,
species are listed only
when they face serious danger of
extinction. This is like setting up a
poorly funded hospital emergency
room that takes only the most des-
perate cases, often with little hope
for recovery, and saying it should be
shut down because it has not saved
enough patients.
Second,
it takes decades for most
species to become endangered or
threatened. Not surprisingly, it also
takes decades to bring a species in
critical condition back to the point
where it can be removed from the
list. Expecting the ESA—which has
been in existence only since 1973—to
quickly repair the biological deple-
tion of many decades is unrealistic.
Third,
the conditions of almost
40% of the listed species are stable
or improving. A hospital emergency
room taking only the most desper-
ate cases and then stabilizing or im-
proving the condition of 40% of its
patients would be considered an as-
tounding success.
Fourth,
the ESA budget was only
$58 million in 2005—about what the
Department of Defense spends in a
little more than an hour or 20¢ per
year per U.S. citizen. To its support-
ers, it seems amazing that the ESA
has managed to stabilize or im-
prove the conditions of almost 40%
of the listed species on a shoestring
budget.
Yes, the act can be improved and
federal regulators have sometimes
been too heavy handed in enforcing
it. But instead of gutting or doing
away with the ESA, biologists call
for it to be strengthened and modi-
fied to help protect ecosystems and
the nation's overall biodiversity.
Some critics say that only 20% of
the endangered species are stable or
improving. If correct, the ESA is still
an incredible bargain.
CASE STUDY
Critical Thinking
Should the budget for the Endan-
gered Species Act be drastically in-
creased? Explain.
