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The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was created to protect creature and plant life that were in risk of becoming extinct . " Nothing is more priceless and more suitable of conservation than the rich raiment of animal life with which our rural area has been blessed , " say President Richard Nixon while signing the turn on December 28 , 1973 .
fit in to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , which administers the act along with the National Marine Fisheries Service , a species may be listed as either endangered or imperil . " Endangered " think a species is in danger of extinguishing throughout all or a significant portion of its range . " Threatened " mean a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future . All species of plants and creature — including subspecies , motley and , for vertebrates , clear-cut universe segments — are eligible for name , except pest insects .
Polar bears are listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
As of May 10 , 2016,the act listed 1,367 speciesof animals and 901 species of plants as menace or threatened . [ In picture : Endangered and Threatened Wildlife ]
History
The Endangered Species Act ( ESA ) was not the first act of its kind . It replaced the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 . But even before that , the U.S. government was steady making the man a safer place for animals . It pop out when President Theodore Roosevelt created the first National Wildlife Refuge at Pelican Island , Florida , in 1903 .
Later , in 1916 , the United States and Great Britain , on the behalf of Canada , create a system of protection for certain birds that migrate between the United States and Canada . Then , on July 3 , 1918 , the United States passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to put the organisation into action , grant to theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .
Almost 50 years by and by , the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 empower land acquisition that would be used to maintain selected species of native fish and wildlife . The Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969 expanded on the 1966 deed . It authorise a inclination of threatened creature that faced worldwide quenching and prohibited importation of threatened brute without a permit . Besides mammals , fish , fowl and amphibians , sea creatures such as crustaceans and mollusk were added as protected creatures .
There are fewer than 300 California condors living in the wild. The species is listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act.
In 1973 , the world fare together in Washington , D.C. , to take the security of animals even further . agree to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ) gathered 80 nations to sign a accord to to regulate or veto international trade of endangered species except by permit .
What the act covers
While the CITES treaty work to protect species worldwide , the United States make the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to cover up domestic issue . It increased protection for all plant and animal specie listed as threatened or endangered , as well as their critical habitats . A decisive habitat was defined as one that is vital to the survival of endangered or threatened species .
agree to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , the human action :
Congress has improve the ESA several time , but these have been diminished changes , and the original act is still mostly intact . For example , in 1978 the deed was better so that the definition of coinage in coition to population was restricted to craniate . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service covers the amendment of the act over the years in their fact sheet , " A story of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 . "
The bald eagle was listed as endangered in 1967 when there were only 487 nesting pairs. By 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the species had recovered, with an estimated 4,215 pairs, and removed bald eagles from the list.
Animals protected by the act
Of the 2,268 species that are list as endangered or threatened by the ESA , 673 are alien species that are found only in area outside of the United States , according to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA ) .
The number of species in each mathematical group of animals and works let in :
Animals
Plants
New animals are add together to the list as need , so it is constantly germinate . Animals that are being investigate for addition to the tilt are call " candidate " mintage . The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees the itemization and protection land creature , industrial plant and freshwater fish while the National Marine Fisheries Service oversees nautical fish and wildlife .
Several mintage have been redeem by this act . " The American gator , bald bird of Jove , peregrine falcon and the brown pelican are meridian examples of species dwindle to enter low number and amount tight to extinguishing , but being able to rebound with the protections and actions allow in the act , " say Brian Ogle , an anthrozoology teacher at Beacon College in Leesburg , Florida .
Controversy
The turn has n’t been accepted completely by some , though . " The Endangered Species Act is one of the most comprehensive man of legislation center on wildlife protection ; however , it was and stay very controversial , " Ogle recite Live Science .
Some think that the turn hinders economical evolution and provides federal agencies with more control than body politic agency . Often , when an endangered animal is found on public country , use of the land is purely regulated , which can inhibit agriculture , logging and other commercial use of the land . Some have called for further , in - deepness inquiry on the economical effects of the ESA .
Opponents also argue the recuperation time period for species list often takes too long and is not as effective as some say it is . " One of the most noticeable changes that came about because of the ESA center on the land - use provisions and the penalties that can be delegate to public and private land owner for not following the provision , " said Ogle .
This can be a concern because landowners are central to the shelter of many metal money . Some think that the act does not needs avail to promote conservation legal action or support innovative approaching , but rather it centers on punish those causing harm to menace mintage unfairly .
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