southeastern Wyoming costs landowners and local jurisdictions about $17 million each year because of the regulations protecting it. Infrastructure projects have become more expensive and have taken more time to complete due to the efforts to preserve the animal (Schiff). These effects can cause citizens to become unsupportive of the law. Recovery plans are another unsuccessful part of the act. The article “Endangered Species, Endangered Act?” describes the failures of the system. Not every listed species has a plan, and the organisms that do often have outdated or deficient ones. The blueprints are usually vague and ineffective. Many of the descriptions don’t state whether a federal action would be harmful to a species. Also, the plans sometimes …show more content…
James Schroeder of the National Wildlife Federation said, “Too often, politicians and the media have focused attention on the few controversies surrounding endangered species protection rather on the many achievements of the act” (Di Silvestro). This explains that Schroeder believes that the law hasn’t been given enough credit because a spotlight is put on its mistakes. 172 species had the possibility of dying off between 1973 and 1998 without the effects of the Endangered Species Act, according to a study published in the Annual Review of Ecological Systematics (Endangered Species Act Myths and Facts). Many species have in fact increased in number because of the act. The population of bald eagles declined due to contamination from the pesticide DDT, habitat destruction, and lead poisoning from bullets. In 1978, the bird was listed as either endangered or threatened in each of the lower forty-eight states. Law enforcement, habitat protection, captive breeding, and reintroduction helped the population rise enough for the eagle to be removed from the lists in 2007 (Bald Eagle Fact Sheet). The act has also been beneficial for the grey wolf population, which suffered from poisoning and trapping. Education about wolves, restoration of habitat, reintroduction, and compensation to ranchers gave hope to the species (Endangered Species Act). There is no doubt that the law has succeeded in some ways despite the points that are of need of