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Protecting endangered species – using the Endangered Species Act to save imperiled wildlife
Endangered Species Act Protections
We are currently in the midst of the sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history. While extinction is a natural process, the current extinction rate is at least one thousand times the historical rate indicated by the fossil record. Blame for this sixth mass extinction can be placed squarely on humans. Habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, exploitation, and proliferation of non-native species—driven by human overpopulation and overconsumption—have resulted in a catastrophic loss of biodiversity.
One of the best tools we have for fighting species loss is the United States Endangered Species Act. This is our nation’s most powerful environmental law, and since it was passed in 1973, the Act has been 99 percent successful at preventing the extinction of listed species. But many plant and animal species scientists consider imperiled have not been listed under the Endangered Species Act. Moreover, thanks to a loophole in the listing process, even species deemed deserving of listing must often wait years on the candidate list before they are protected. Some of these species have gone extinct while awaiting listing.
We have an energetic and dogged campaign to usher imperiled species onto the legal ark of the Endangered Species Act and then use the Act’s full powers to ensure those species’ survival and recovery. We fight for the imperiled species that don’t have the luxury of time.
Guardians and the Endangered Species Act
Learn more about our work on the Endangered Species Act, including how we secured Endangered Species Act protections for nearly 200 imperiled species.
Candidate Settlement Milestone
In 2011, we entered into an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that resulted in Endangered Species Act protections for nearly 200 species awaiting listing.
ESA Listing Petitions
We have submitted numerous petitions to federal agencies seeking protection for imperiled species. You can find those petitions here.
Threatened + Endangered Species List
See a list of endangered species that we work to protect.
On the ESA Waiting List
Find out why imperiled species languish on the endangered species list for years and how we saved many species from that fate.
Education and Outreach
Our work is backed by the best available science, and we strive to make our research transparent through our research and reports. We also conduct public education campaigns to increase tolerance and promote coexistence, particularly for species that have not been afforded the legal protections of the Endangered Species Act.
Prairie Dog Day
February 2nd is officially recognized as Groundhog Day, but here in the West we celebrate Prairie Dog Day. Prairie Dog Day events invite the public to more fully understand prairie dogs and their communities, and learn how the status of prairie dogs affects the health of our western grasslands. For 10 years, we released our annual Report from the Burrow: Forecast of the Prairie Dog on Prairie Dog Day, rating how Western states are, or are not, ensuring the species’ health.
“The Troubles With Trapping” New Mexican Roadshow
WildEarth Guardians, as part of the TrapFreeNM.org coalition, organized this eight-city tour of New Mexico in 2012 to highlight the dangers associated with public lands trapping. We set out to meet New Mexico’s citizens and voters face-to-face in order to elevate the issue, raise awareness, and capture the attention of decision makers.
Coexisting With Cougars
Public education is key to maintaining tolerance for the West’s charismatic big cats and ensuring their conservation. We have organized a multitude of educational talks on cougars in Colorado and New Mexico. By improving awareness and understanding of these native cats, we can promote common-sense precautions to eliminate potential human-cougar conflicts.
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
Guardians sues sheep station to protect bighorn sheep, grizzlies, other wildlife
Station ignoring decades of science, court opinions
What Ernest Thompson Seton’s wolf trapping teaches us
In Seton’s case, the leap from trapper who calls wolves “pests” to wildlife advocate is nothing less than profound
Why the Endangered Species Act matters
The Endangered Species Act, passed nearly unanimously in 1973, is one of our nation’s most important and successful laws. Here are a few reasons why.
Wildlife Press
Stand up for what’s right
Given the current political climate, accountability may seem like a thing of the past. But the truth is, breaking the law has consequences. After a long and opaque process, the saga of Craig Thiessen, a rancher from Kansas who was grazing cattle on the Gila National Forest and intentionally killed a juvenile endangered Mexican gray wolf (“Advocates want rancher’s forest permit pulled,” June 24), came to the only just conclusion: In late November, the U.S. Forest Service revoked his public lands grazing permit.
Read more >NM lawmakers consider ban on trapping wildlife on public land
"Since 2013, nearly 30,000 fur-bearing species have been killed by trappers," said Christopher Smith, with conservation group Wildearth Guardians. "Our native ecosystems are already pushed to the brink by climate change, by human expansion, by drought, and trapping just another toll being taken on those species."
Read more >
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