Endangered Species Act in Jeopardy – Again
Protecting the nation’s endangered species has been a national priority for more than a century, beginning with the passage of the Lacey Act in 1900. The Act strengthened state efforts to protect wildlife by making it illegal to transport unlawfully taken animals across state lines. In the decades that followed, Congress passed a series of laws to extend protections to the country’s most imperiled species. These efforts often focused on individual species—such as the brown pelican, bald eagle, and whooping crane—or on entire taxonomic groups, including birds, fishes, sea turtles, and marine mammals.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) into law with overwhelming public and bipartisan support. The ESA replaced earlier endangered species laws and established the most comprehensive framework for wildlife protection in U.S. history.
The ESA prohibits the “take” of endangered species by any person, including individuals, corporations, and government entities. “Take” is broadly defined to include actions that harm species, such as significant habitat modification or degradation—a definition that has been central to protecting essential habitat and supporting species recovery. In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld this interpretation. Today, the ESA protects 1,662 U.S. species and 638 foreign species, and public support remains high at 84 percent.
Since the Reagan administration, the ESA has faced persistent challenges from corporate interests that see its regulations as obstacles to development. These efforts have led to regulatory rollbacks, chronic underfunding, and legislative maneuvers, including delays in listing species, blocks on new listings, and loopholes undermining protections.
Most recently, the Trump administration proposed sweeping changes that would weaken the law’s effectiveness. These revisions prioritize corporate profits over species survival, restrict critical habitat designations, and make it harder to list new species despite an existing backlog. Agencies would also face new procedural hurdles that could remove essential recovery tools, limit habitat offsets, and redefine environmental “baseline” conditions—even though such baselines naturally change over time.
Despite these challenges, the ESA’s success is well documented. The recoveries of species such as the bald eagle, American alligator, grizzly bear, gray wolf, and many others would not have been possible without the protections provided by the Endangered Species Act.
For a complete ESA history, check out https://www.fws.gov/esa50/our-history/pre-1973
To follow the story and take action, check out https://www.endangered.org/take-action/
Spotlight on Species Recovery: The West’s Vanishing Porcupines
Porcupines are disappearing across the western United States, and scientists are racing to understand why. Once common, these iconic rodents now face threats from habitat loss, historic eradication campaigns, and changing forest ecosystems. Their decline also affects other species, such as the endangered fisher, which includes porcupines as an important food source.
Our own Dr. Wayne Spencer has been active in species recovery efforts, contributing expertise and insights into protecting vulnerable wildlife. He encourages readers to learn more about the challenges facing porcupines and the broader implications for ecosystem health.
New Research Article from CBI’s Dr. Alexandra D. Syphard
CBI’s senior research scientist, Dr. Alexandra D. Syphard, recently published a new research article titled, Causal analysis of fire regime drivers in California. In this work, Dr. Syphard explores the complex challenges facing wildlife and ecosystems in landscapes experiencing rapid environmental change. Her research emphasizes how human activities, such as land development and resource management, intersect with natural processes to influence species distributions and habitat quality.
The study provides valuable insights for conservation planning, offering strategies to prioritize habitat protection, mitigate human impacts, and support species recovery. By combining advanced modeling techniques with real-world data, Dr. Syphard’s work helps inform decisions that balance ecological resilience with the realities of land use.
This publication underscores CBI’s ongoing commitment to advancing science-based approaches to conservation and highlights Dr. Syphard’s leadership in addressing some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.