Whooping and Sandhill Cranes. LaBagh Woods, November 22, 2021. Photo by Scott Judd.

words by Andrea Martinez

December 28, 2023 commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, enacted just three years after the Environmental Protection Agency was created.

History of the ESA

While the Endangered Species Act is the most famous law that grants extensive protections to endangered and threatened species, it is far from the first of its kind.

Attempts to recover dwindling populations of wildlife species in the United States date back to the Lacey Act of 1900 after seeing the fast decline of various wildlife due to overhunting and habitat loss. This law prevented the unlawful export of wildlife across state lines, and its enforcement was overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Owing mostly to the overhunting of birds for their feathers, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was born. This was, at the time, the most comprehensive and complete protection awarded to birds native to member nations across the world.

All the while, the population of our national symbol—the Bald Eagle—was rapidly declining. Congress passed the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 in an attempt to save the dwindling population of Bald and Golden eagles.

The Endangered Species Protection Act (ESPA) was born in 1966 and was overseen by the Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). But the most comprehensive wildlife protection program was yet to come.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 quickly followed after the creation of the EPA. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been the most comprehensive piece of legislation that granted broad protections for endangered species that were native to the lands and waters of the United States. As of its implementation in 1973, the ESA has been overseen by the USFWS in the Department of Interior and the Department of Commerce.

The Law

The ESA is a comprehensive program that “restricts the taking of species in danger of extinction, regulates trade, provides authority to acquire habitat needed for their survival, and mandates that federal agencies consider the impacts of their activities.”

The act focuses on the following types of species:

Endangered species: Any species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Threatened species: Any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all/significant portion of its range.

In order for a species to be listed as protected under the ESA, the following criteria must be met:

the present or threatened destruction of habitat;
overutilization of the species for commercial, recreational or other purposes;
disease or predation;
inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; and
other natural or manmade factors affecting the continued existence of the species.

Once an animal is listed as an endangered species, the ESA is overseen by the USFWS and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. They are required to develop, implement, and oversee a recovery plan for the conservation and survival of the listed species. At any one time, there are over one thousand listed species.

Species can be removed from the endangered species list through delisting determinations, typically through recovery of populations. One of the delisting determinations is by extinction of the species. As of 2021, thirty-two species have been delisted from the ESA due to extinction.

While it is a sad fact that we were unable to protect thirty-two species from extinction, the ESA has seen more than sixty-one species delisted due to recovered populations.

Bald Eagle

The most famous first resident of the Endangered Species Act list, the Bald Eagle had been on the list since its enactment in 1973 and was finally removed from the list in 2007 when populations met stable levels.

While the Bald Eagle is the symbol of our nation, they met an unfortunate decline in the nineteenth century, along with many other bird species, due to overhunting and use of the pesticide DDT.

Thanks to recovery efforts by the USFWS, the Bald Eagle is now an uncommon resident of Illinois. When it was delisted in 2007, there were nearly 10,000 breeding pairs. Today, there are over 71,000.

While doing my undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois, I caught my very first glimpse of a Bald Eagle, casually perched on a log in the middle of a farm on a quiet county road. It was magical.

Kirtland’s Warbler

The Kirtland’s Warbler is another resident of the ESA list. The species was delisted in 2019, as its populations recovered.

The population of these birds declined in the 1950s due to the losses and changes in habitat. They only breed in early-successional jack pine forests aged 4–25 years, and human development was causing jack pines that were too mature for these warblers.

At the time of its listing in 1973, there were only 200 pairs. The delisting determination for this bird species was set at 1,000 pairs, but that number stood at over 2,300 pairs as of 2019—far exceeding the USFWS goal.

This was achieved through forest management to maintain the early-stage successional jack pines that these warblers breed in. The Kirtland's Warbler is a fantastic example of cooperation in part by federal agencies, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and everyday people to achieve a common goal and secure the future of a species.

Even following delisting from the ESA, the USFWS continues to monitor populations of delisted species in 5-year reviews to ensure populations continue to grow and stabilize. If these criteria are not met, the USFWS implements procedures to grow or stabilize populations.

It is important to note that, while many of these bird species may no longer be listed as protected under the ESA, they are still granted protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and local laws such as the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act.

Piping Plover (Wild Indigo). Montrose Beach, July 16, 2023. Photo by Ian Sarmiento.

Great Lakes Piping Plover

No stranger to the Great Lakes, the Piping Plover was listed as threatened under the ESA in 1985 due to industrialization, urbanization, and increased recreation along shorelines. These birds favor sandy beaches, dunes, and barrier islands for breeding grounds.

Currently, the Piping Plover is a resident of the ESA list. The Great Lakes breeding population was at an all-time low of 17 breeding pairs at the time of listing. In 1999, that number jumped to 30. The summer of 2023 was a record season, with 80 breeding pairs.

The criteria for delisting the Piping Plover sits at achieving 100 breeding pairs in the Great Lakes region. Other considerations include maintaining a stable population for five years and preventing further destruction of beaches and development.

Unfortunately, this bird species is particularly vulnerable to abandoning their nests due to human disturbance and warding off prey. Part of the USFWS’s job is to determine critical habitats for their listed species, which mainly entails identifying and protecting their breeding grounds.

The exact amount of land protected as a result of conservation efforts to protect endangered species is difficult to quantify. What is evident, is that portions of protected lands are available to us in the form of paved walkways and hiking trails.

The ESA in Action

The intersection with other federal mandates is evident. The ESA intersects with institutions of agriculture, the energy sector, infrastructure, and commerce, and even more than we know.

This is because the ESA requires developers, whether governmental or private, to undergo an Environmental Assessment and develop a habitat conservation plan before they can undertake actions that may result in a “taking” of protected species.

For example, roads are managed by the Department of Transportation. However, they must submit requests to the appropriate federal agencies to ensure it complies with the Endangered Species Act.

If it is determined that a proposed project could interfere with, for example, the migration patterns, breeding grounds, or food source of any endangered or threatened species protected under the ESA, the DOT’s proposal will be denied and they will have to revise their plans.

As evidenced, the ESA awards us pristine pieces of land that are not only safe havens for endangered species, but that ensure the success and longevity of biodiversity that made the American landscape.

The success of the ESA is a testament of our commitment to protecting the natural landscape of our nation, a feat likened to saving America. Without concerned citizens of all walks of life banding together to achieve a common goal, the United States may have very well lost its national symbol to time.

ESA at 50