Endangered Species Act Essay

The legislation I chose was the Endangered Species Act. The Act was passed by the United States Congress in 1973, with the intention of protecting and recovering at risk species and also protecting the ecosystems the species are dependent on.

According to Congress, the goal of the legislation was to “ provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species” (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d.). There have been 5 amendments to the legislation. The first amendment was in 1978 and enabled federal agencies to take action that might harm a listed species if a federal committee had approved

The Center For Biological Diversity did a study on bird recovery under the endangered species act. They tested on 120 bird species and determined if populations had increased, decreased, or remained stable since the implementation of the act. The results of the study revealed that, “Eighty-five percent of bird populations in the continental United States increased or stabilized while protected by the Act” and that the average population increase was 624 percent” (Suckling, 2016). This supports the legislation, because it shows that the act has helped animals to recover and no longer be endangered. Another case of success was the American Alligator, which was listed as near extinct when the act began. “In 1987, the Fish and Wildlife Service pronounced the American alligator fully recovered and consequently removed the animal from the list of endangered species” (American Alligator, 2008). This reveals that the alligator came back due to the act. A final study that shows the act has been successful is that of a study of population of the Oregon Chub. “When it was originally listed as endangered, only eight known populations existed; currently, there are 50 known populations, and 19 of those are either stable or increasing. The fish will have spent just 21 years on the Endangered Species List, and it is the first fish proposed for removal” (Elliott, 2014 ). All of these studies confirm that endangered animal populations have increased significantly since the passing of the Endangered species Act, and therefore support the