Fifty years ago, the bipartisan Congress did the right thing by a vote of 482 to 12. Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed into one of the most important environmental laws in American history. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was a broad law aimed at not only protecting endangered plant and animal species, but also returning them to their former habitats. The law has had a huge impact on the ecosystem, which is one reason why gray wolves are returning to Colorado by the end of the year.

This law is fundamentally about humility and the public belief that our heritage as Americans includes the native plants, animals, and insects found in 50 states. From the Declaration of Independence in 1776, he spent a century on the continent, where we wildly fenced, killed bison and passenger pigeons, mined, logged, and built nations. By the 1890s, a conservation movement was born to make better use of natural resources. How can we be more efficient? How can we waste less grass, wood, water and soil?

Successful examples of the Endangered Species Act include efforts by the Peregrine Foundation to bring back eagles, peregrine falcons and California condors introduced to the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on the Arizona Strip. Large birds regularly fly around the Colorado Plateau to check on tourists on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. With a wingspan of 11 feet, this rare bird is identified by a numbered tag on its wings. (Courtesy of Chris Parish and Peregrine Foundation)

“We did not build this country in a day. It is timeless. We stand on the threshold of a new century,” said Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. A fervent proponent of conservation, Roosevelt saved 230 million acres of public land for all Americans, but even though he was an expert on birds and large mammals, predation I don’t understand the relationship between the victim and the victim. He named wolves and pumas “beasts of desolation and devastation”. President Roosevelt did not recognize the role of predators in maintaining healthy populations of deer and elk. Indigenous peoples understood that role, but American scientists did not. not yet. It would be decades later for him in the 1950s and his 1960s before the conservation movement evolved into the environmental movement and ecology became widely understood.

Navajo experts and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff are working to sample the health of Navajo desert bighorns before reintroducing wild sheep to other areas of their former habitat. going. The bighorn was captured and flown by helicopter to Mexican Hat, Utah for a series of tests. Desert bighorns now occupy only a fraction of their former range. (Courtesy of Lynel Schalk)

Finally, for the first time, as Americans, we are concerned not only with conserving natural resources for our own use, but also with conserving the environment itself. Aldo Leopold used the terms “land ethics” and “land health” in his book The Sand County Almanac to believe that landscapes need to be managed to contain as many species as possible. was His son, Starker Leopold, wrote in the “Leopold Report” for the National Park Service in 1963 that wildlife in national parks should be “fragments of primitive America” ​​and all species claimed to belong to it.

Ten years later, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act, which, according to University of California professor emeritus and jurist John Lethy, “is in some ways the most notable environmental law in our country.” It is said that it is a thing. He added, “It is strictly focused on saving what many consider to be God’s creations, and perhaps for that reason it has deep and broad bipartisan support, but that powerful mandate will only work if the endangered species is officially “listed” by the federal wildlife service. As the caper grouse conservation effort shows, this can be a powerful incentive for voluntary conservation efforts to avoid the ‘list’. “

Successful examples of the Endangered Species Act include efforts by the Peregrine Foundation to bring back eagles, peregrine falcons and California condors introduced to the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on the Arizona Strip. Large birds regularly fly around the Colorado Plateau to check on tourists on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. With a wingspan of 11 feet, this rare bird is identified by a numbered tag on its wings. (Courtesy of Chris Parish and Peregrine Foundation)

In the United States, progressive change begins as an idea, becomes an ideal, and evolves into law. The Act on the Protection of Endangered Species represents a radical affirmation of ecological ethics, and the revival of the great eagle, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, crocodile, Kirtland’s warthog and California condor has made positive progress. it’s having an effect.

Thanks to this law, we were able to hear the piercing calls of peregrine falcons in Yampa Canyon and Echo Park in Dinosaur National Monument. We have been protecting peregrine habitat locally, here in Perrins He Peak and Chimney Rock National Monuments, where peregrine falcons nest. Condor returns to the Grand Canyon and Marbles, flying both above and below the historic Navajo Bridge. In Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, we camped for a week, walking along cliff edges and riding heat currents against the vast skies of the Colorado Plateau, its wide wingspan making it difficult to track. I saw so many condors.

Yes, living with endangered species is not easy. A small fish named snail darter stopped some dams. There are rare flowers, rare rabbits, mini owls and even tiny bats. Even small seeds can have a big impact. The small cactus iron pygmy owl inspired the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Motorcycle rallies and sprawling housing developments have been canceled because there are places where endangered desert tortoises roam.

“Sometimes people complain about how long a species stays on the ESA. Alliance’s Gary Skiba said. With more than 30 years of experience as a wildlife biologist, he says, “ESA is often cited as one of the most effective environmental laws, and it really is. It ensures that future generations enjoy the legacy of wildlife.” We have to keep it strong so we can.”

Since 1973, we have preserved 58 species, but more have been lost and driven to extinction. One of the most passionate conservation groups for species conservation is the Center for Biodiversity. The center has successfully argued in court to keep polar bear habitat, wolf restoration, and even tamarind beetles out of riparian areas used by humans. Southwestern willow flycatcher. The CBD is campaigning for critical habitat for the Canadian lynx, Hawaiian monk seal, California tiger salamander, American jaguar, and the elusive Sheran mountain nail.

How ironic that in Roosevelt’s time the Bureau of Biological Research ran a special laboratory in Denver to create poisons for predators like strychnine. That same federal agency is now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which specializes in species conservation. Its expert staff makes critical decisions on whether a species should be listed as endangered during a 90-day review. All over the West, there are fights over listing the greater sage grouse. Bumblebees, once infested, are now in dire straits across the country. So do us Americans, as buzzing bumblebees can pollinate up to a third of our crops. According to S.Mitsonian Magazine iBy 2021, the species has disappeared from Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oregon, and has declined by 98% in New York.

Successful examples of the Endangered Species Act include efforts by the Peregrine Foundation to bring back eagles, peregrine falcons and California condors introduced to the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on the Arizona Strip. Large birds regularly fly around the Colorado Plateau to check on tourists on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. With a wingspan of 11 feet, this rare bird is identified by a numbered tag on its wings. (Courtesy of Chris Parish and Peregrine Foundation)

Despite its successes and losses, conservationist and Sonora Institute founder Luther Propst believes: “The Endangered Species Act has served the United States and the world very well for 50 years as a public policy ’emergency room'” for plants and animals. Arguably, the ESA is one of the most important and effective legal underpinnings for protecting wildlife, wildlife habitat and life on earth. “We are all fortunate that leaders of both parties had the foresight to pass this bill,” he added.

So where do we go from here? We fully comply with the law. We leave that responsibility to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As we battle climate change and global warming, let’s save all the flora and fauna we can for our 21st century Noah’s Ark (also known as Spaceship Earth). Half a century ago, our politicians had extraordinary foresight. Fifty years later, let us celebrate and reaffirm the humility inherent in the Endangered Species Protection Act.

Award-winning author and editor Andrew Galliford is Professor of History at Fort Lewis University. Please contact andy@agulliford.com.