Healthy species are indicative of a healthy environment. Because of their direct connection to the ecosystem, species often serve as harbingers of toxic pollution threats or subtle changes in the environment that could have an impact on human survival. Plants, animals and other creatures are also sources of food and medicine, and have a right to share the Earth with us.
Unfortunately, more than 50,000 species become extinct worldwide each year. Given this rapid decline, within 50 years one quarter of the world's species could be lost forever.
Recognizing that human activity is responsible for the large majority of species' extinctions, the U.S. government adopted the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1966, which used money from the Land and Conservation Funds to purchase habitat for endangered species. The act was too limited to be effective, however: endangered plants and invertebrates were not protected, and endangered animals could still be killed and traded outside of the acquired habitat areas.
Building upon the 1966 law, the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 expanded protections by adding both foreign and domestic animals to the list of endangered species. In addition, the new law made it illegal to buy or sell imperiled species. Nevertheless, plants and invertebrate species were not protected.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, the law we know today, took broader strides in protecting species, for entire ecosystems in which endangered species live were considered worthy of protection, including plants and invertebrates. The new law also added a second layer of protection: species on the decline could be given "threatened" status, a distinction that means the species is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
Federal protection has been responsible for saving many species from extinction, including the bald eagle, the manatee and the Florida panther. Unfortunately, the law has been less than effective in recovering species to the point that they can be removed from the endangered and threatened lists; only seven US species have been recovered since 1973. Sadly, an equal number of species have gone extinct since the enactment of the law, though it is likely that hundreds of species, if not thousands, would have vanished without it.
A stronger ESA could reverse this disturbing trend in species endangerment and extinction. Recovery plans must be developed and executed, and the Bush administration must give the US Fish & Wildlife Service adequate funding for the program. For listing and habitat purposes, the Fish & Wildlife Service requested $120 million, but the Bush administration's proposed budget offers an allotment of only $9 million. Such egregious under-funding could cause the extinction of many species. Money and staff shortages have hampered the implementation of recovery plans, while resource constraints have kept 257 species waiting as candidates for listing, meaning that the species will be officially listed when funding becomes available for their protection.
Extinction is forever. Environment Florida is working to defend the ESA from special interest attacks, and we now face a heightened challenge to ensure that opponents in Congress don't roll back protections for threatened and endangered plants and animals.
