Natural History Wanderings

December  28 is the 41st anniversary of the U. S. Endangered Species Act. It has protected America’s imperiled plants and animals—from the carnivorous green pitcher plant of Southeastern wetlands, to the western snowy plover of northwestern beaches, to the  polar bear of the Arctic. Wikipedia reminds us

Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” The U.S. Supreme Court found that “the plain intent of Congress in enacting” the ESA “was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.”[1] The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Read more about the act at Wikipedia Endangered Species Act