Endangered Species Act Passed (1973)
On December 28, 1973, President Richard Nixon passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which aims to protect threatened species and the ecosystems on which they depend.
In the 1960s, two acts, The Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 and the Endangered Species Conservation Act, were passed to protect threatened species in the United States. President Nixon, however, felt that these laws were inadequate, as they did not address the natural habitats of the endangered species. He called on Congress to draft a more comprehensive bill to not only protect the endangered animals, but to protect their environments as well.
A team of lawyers and noted scientists wrote the Endangered Species Act, and it was signed into law by President Nixon on December 18, 1973. The ESA’s primary goal is to prevent the extinction of threatened plant and animal life. The secondary goal is to maintain or recover threatened populations by removing or lessening threats to their survival. The ESA also recognizes the importance of the habitats in which these species live, and aims to protect them as well.
The ESA is jointly administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The NOAA is in charge of classifying and protection marine species, and the FWS is responsible for freshwater fish and all other plants and animals. The Act also gave both organizations the ability to declare specific areas "critical habitat zones," meaning that the ecosystem of the area needs to be maintained for the survival of a species.
Since the passing of the ESA in 1973, 22 species have been taken off the endangered list due to recovery of the species, and 23 species have been downgraded from "endangered" to "threatened."