Endangered Species Act

                                                                                                                2-26-20


The Endangered Species Act protects endangered and threatened wildlife by requiring federal agencies to ensure the actions they authorize, fund, or carry out do not jeopardize the animals on the endangered list. The act also prohibits the "taking" of species on the list and it protects the habitat of the endangered wildlife. It originally started nationally when congress passed the Endangered Preservation Act in 1966. Then 70 nations signed CITES ( Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) in 1973, which led to the Endangered Species act being signed in the same year. The Endangered Species Act saved about 172 species from going extinct and the conditions of the animals on the endangered list keeps improving the longer that they are on the list. However, the Trump administration has weakened the act by making it easier to remove animals from the endangered list,  lessening the protections on endangered species, and allowing federal agencies to conduct economic evaluations when deciding to protect a species. These amendments to the act are as recent as August 2019. It allows companies to make a profit without worrying about the effects of their business on the environment.