Photo Credit: Andy Reago and Chrissy McClarren
The Endangered Species Act – our nation’s most powerful environmental law protecting wildlife
Endangered Species Act Defense
The Endangered Species Act is our nation’s most powerful environmental law protecting wildlife. Today, the most important challenge in protecting endangered species is opposing attempts to weaken or outright overrule the law itself. Also essential is holding the federal government accountable when it underfunds, under-enforces and fails to meet its obligations under the Act.
We are working to safeguard the essential safety net of the Endangered Species Act by actively opposing attempts to undermine the law. We also work to uncover political manipulations and junk science, organize grassroots advocacy, pressure the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to fully implement the law, and demand that Congress fully fund the Act.
We strategically file lawsuits under the Act to compel needed decisions and protections for species on the brink of extinction. We litigate because it is our responsibility as citizens to do so. When the law was passed, Congress in its wisdom understood the government might not always adequately enforce the law and included a citizen suit provision giving us the right to step into the government’s shoes and ensure compliance with this key law. Otherwise, corporate and government greed can corrupt science and send species into oblivion.
Take Action
More than 85 percent of Americans support a strong Endangered Species Act. Supporters come from all backgrounds, cultures, locations, political parties, and perspectives. These diverse voices all agree that our precious natural heritage should be left intact for future generations of wildlife and people.
The Endangered Species Act is wildly successful. Scientists estimate that as of 2006, but for the Act, at least 220 species would have gone extinct. Many of our county’s most iconic species, including the bald eagle, would likely have gone the way of the dodo without the law’s essential protections.
Let’s work together to prevent the extinction of even a single species of native wildlife on our watch. Defend our nation’s most powerful environmental law by joining millions of other citizens in being an Endangered Species Act Guardian.
Science Under Siege
Sound science, not sounds-good science, should always guide decisions about Endangered Species Act listings, yet political whims and junk science or an outright hostility to science too often undermine the Act’s effectiveness. In an effort to enhance corporate profits and marginalize the public interest, the federal government has ignored good science and relied on questionable “science” to work to weaken regulations and laws protecting imperiled wildlife.
The tactics used to under-implement the Endangered Species Act include censoring independent scientific research, underfunding key programs like the listing program itself and recovery plan development, manipulating or ignoring data, silencing government biologists, interfering in the peer review process, attacking watchdog groups that counter political meddling, and stacking the deck with industry-friendly “biologists” whose scientific integrity extends no further than their paychecks.
How You Can Help
Help protect the incredible, vulnerable wildlife of the West! Be a guardian for the wild by joining the conversation, learning about current issues, and making your voice heard. Together, we're a powerful force for nature.
Recent Stories From Wildlife
Nine reasons to save the Joshua tree
Learn what sets the iconic Joshua tree apart—and what you can do to save it
The fate of threatened Joshua Tree in limbo due to government failure to do more
Guardians is forced to explore whether another round of litigation is needed
The fate of threatened Joshua Tree in limbo due to government failure to do more
Guardians is forced to explore whether another round of litigation is needed
Help us to Oppose Montana House Bill 372
HB 372 would open the door for catastrophic consequences to our native wildlife, providing a right to “hunt, fish, trap, and harvest wild fish and wildlife.”
Wildlife Press
Feds deny protections for climate-imperiled Joshua tree
USFWS once again ignores science, law in failing to protect iconic desert plant
Read more >Game Commission fix good for NM wildlife
New Mexico conservationists, wildlife watchers, outfitters, hunters and anglers agree: Before us lies a great opportunity to better the management of one of New Mexico’s most precious assets. Our state’s wildlife is an incredible cultural and economic blessing. As the fifth-most biodiverse state we live amid an amazing array of ecosystems.
Read more >Western Joshua Tree denied Federal Protection
While local and regional focus has been on California Fish and Wildlife’s deliberations on permanently listing the western Joshua tree on the state’s endangered species list, the same debate has been going on at the federal level.
Read more >We want to stay in touch with you
Receive regular updates from WildEarth Guardians in your inbox.
Connect with us on social media
WildEarth Guardians is a 501(c)3 registered charitable organization. Tax ID 85-0406306.
info@wildearthguardians.org | © 2022 WildEarth Guardians | Historical Archives | Privacy Policy | Donor Log In