Broader Interpretation Sought for Endangered Species Act

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=endangered-species-protection-plant-animal

Several scientists are asking the Interior Department to revise a policy that was put in place during the Bush administration. The policy pertains to endangered species and the Endangered Species Act. Before 2007, the Endangered Species Act stated that animals that were considered to be endangered or threatened had to be protected in all of their range or a large portion of it. The policy was revised to state that the species would only be protected in areas where they were most at risk. The current restrictions on the ESA could be hurting species such as the gray wolf and cutthroat trout. The letter written to the Interior Department reads that, "we are concerned that these interpretations will result in imperiled species not receiving protection and limit where species that are listed are ultimately recovered.”

Endangered Species is a huge threat to the biodiversity of not only the ecosystems of the United States but all around the world. Every year about 50,000-55,000 species will go extinct. The restrictions on the Endangered Species Act will most likely only make these numbers higher. With the reduction of the range of endangered species covered it is harder to protect the species from habitat loss, poaching, and other things that are causing their population to decline. The policy in effect now does not fully protect the gray wolf which is worrying because the gray wolf is a keystone species. The extinction of this species could cause a drastic decline or collapse in the other species populations that inhabit the same land. I am hoping with the Obama administration many environmental laws and policies that were loosened during the Bush administration can be retightened, including this one that deals with endangered species.

"Broader Interpretation Sought for Endangered Species Act." Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2009.