Endangered Species Act Pros And Cons

Justin Fulton

Mrs. Burns

Government K 5th period

4 December 2017

The Endangered Species Act Problems and Solutions The Endangered Species Act protects many endangered species within our world today. This act has been successful with a number of species being saved, or they’re survival has been prolonged. Even though there is success with this act there are still some issues present. There are many species unprotected from this act, and there are still places who don’t entirely follow this act up to the standards they should. But the overlying issue is that there needs to be greater effort put forth to truly help these species’ populations to become stable once again. The endangered species act needs to follow their original goal of

These issues include the exclusion of certain species. The act excludes certain species due to the disconcern of those certain animals. The issue is that all species deserve a protection from this act, and there should be no species exempt from these protections. There is also the issue of incorrect habits needed for these species. Certain species might need very specific habitats. For example the spotted owl is one of the most “preserved” specie being protected presently. The issue is that the owls are not living in the correct/optimal habitat. Although their habitat is being well preserved, there is the problem of another species coexisting with them, the Bard Owl. The Bard Owl is a larger, more aggressive, and can adapt a lot better than the spotted owl can. They can dominate the species and “usurp their habitat”(Why). There is also the issue of the ESA being too invasive (Knight). With the act being too invasive on certain species there can be harm done, rather than help. There are still many underlying issues that still are there. Habitats aren’t being properly protected, species are not even being recognized by the act, it harms species in one way or another, protection is not as strong as it should be, funding needs to be increased, expand research needed for conservation, and there needs to be an improvement in the main focus of this act

The goal of this act when initially put into service was to protect and conserve species that were endangered or threatened, and help them recover. But the implementation of that goal “has...been elusive.” (Clark). The main problem with the goal being unclear is the federal agencies not doing what they are expected, and should be doing to further help rehabilitate these species. There should be more of a close eye on what these federal agencies are doing. Making sure they are doing what they should be doing could significantly increase the amount of threatened species being helped. Alternatively this will give private landowners a lot less work on their hands with the projects that they do partake in. Federal agencies not following the goal they should be has lead to the goal of conservation to become that seems far off. Private landowners also have to deal with the work that these federal agencies are not doing, which is a huge burden that these landowners have to deal with. Although it may cost a bit to get these agencies to help out more, it would be a huge improvement to the state the ESA (endangered species act) is at the