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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.

You Can Protect Endangered Species

If you value native wildlife and want to see all imperiled species protected, get the latest updates, action alerts, articles and event invites from WildEarth Guardians.

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.

Progress for Protection

After our Endangered Species Act settlement concluded in 2016, we compiled a report on the results—from the species and habitats that received protections to what we’ll strive for in the next decade.

Read the report

Photo: Louis Swift

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.

Defend the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is our country’s most essential environmental law protecting plants and animals, yet some members of Congress want to weaken the law. Tell Congress you value native wildlife and want to see all imperiled species protected.

SEND A LETTER

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.

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Support Our Work

Wildlife Press

Campaign launched to overhaul state management of wolves

Jun 23, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore.— A new s…

Time to terminate wildlife killing contests

The Register-Guard | May 18, 2021

"Wildlife Killing Contests" is — as intended — extremely difficult to watch. The recently released 25-minute documentary, produced by Filipe DeAndrade and Brian Moghari in partnership with Project Coyote, contains graphic footage of animals being callously slain for entertainment and prize money, only to be added to piles of carcasses used for vain photo opportunities.

Activists fear Biden’s climate pledges are falling apart: ‘We aren’t seeing grit’

The Guardian | Jun 22, 2021

On his first day at the White House, Joe Biden earned praise for following through on several campaign promises, committing the US to strict climate goals and a greener future. Now, nearly six months into his presidency, several of those commitments are being put to the test, and already, many are falling apart.

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Megan is a rising 3L at the University of Oregon School of Law. Originally from Jupiter, Florida, she grew up scuba diving, snorkeling, and hiking in a state with unique ecosystems such as everglades and coral reefs, shaping her into the environmentally conscious individual she is today. Working at a sea turtle hospital and watching toxic algae blooms negatively affect both coral reefs and endangered species inspired her to drive positive change and pursue a career in environmental law.

She attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2018 with a BS in Marine Science with minors in Mathematics and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. After graduation, she worked as an intern at JLA Geosciences, a hydrogeological contracting firm where she learned the importance of sustainable water and land management. Megan is very involved with the environmental law community through her leadership roles in the Land Air Water Environmental Law Society. Megan helped organize both the 2020 and 2021 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) through her positions as a 1L Representative and a Conference Co-Director. During her 3L year she will serve as a Land Air Water Co-Director. She has also been involved with the University Oregon’s Environmental and Natural Resources Center as a Fellow on the Oceans, Coasts, and Watersheds Project.

Her research is focused on Biocriteria and reforming the CWA to better protect coral reefs and better address agricultural runoff. During her 2L year she also competed in the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. During the summer of 2020 she worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the fall of 2020, she had a judicial externship at the U.S. District Court District of Oregon working for the Honorable Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai. Megan is very excited to gain further litigation skills by working in the Wildlife Program at the Portland Office of WildEarth Guardians.

Contact

978-701-4343

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Tessa Archibald is a passionate animal lover with a desire to preserve our natural world and increase respect for all species. She obtained a BS in Biopsychology from Tufts University and is currently working towards a Masters in Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. She hopes that an understanding of complex human animal interactions and policy will promote more empathetic management of wildlife across all lands!

Contact

[email protected]
505-660-0284

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Joe Bushyhead joined Guardians in May 2021 as our Endangered Species Policy Advocate. Based in Denver, he works to protect imperiled Western species as well as the integrity of the Endangered Species Act itself.

Prior to Guardians, Joe spent seven years as a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and clerked for the Honorable Tena Campbell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Before law school, he worked for the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resource Management on, among other projects, a study of Chinook salmon in Idaho’s South Fork of the Salmon River watershed.

Contact

[email protected]

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

My name is Hailey Zimber and I am a rising senior majoring in Politics at Whitman College. I am thrilled to be joining WildEarth Guardians as a research and community organizing intern for the Greater Gila Campaign. As a born and raised New Mexican, the Greater Gila is one of the silos of wilderness that have shaped who I know myself to be. Protecting the Gila means protecting myself, my state, and my community, and for this reason, this position is especially meaningful to me.

Dustin Martin

Member, Board of Directors

Dustin grew up hiking, camping, riding, skiing and running the vast outdoor sanctuaries surrounding Gallup, NM. Distance running led him to New York City, where he earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Columbia University. In 2011, Dustin returned to the southwest to serve as program director for Wings of America- a not for profit that empowers Tribal youth and their families by introducing them to the cultural, spiritual and competitive legacy of Native runners. Under his leadership, the organization has continued to provide elite-level opportunities for talented Native runners while making a concerted effort to create new programs for fledgling harriers of all abilities. Moving forward, Dustin hopes to continue promoting the positive achievements of Native runners while helping foster and test new models for acquainting Native youth with their ancestral homelands.

Francine D. Spang-Willis

Member, Board of Directors

Francine D. Spang-Willis is of Cheyenne, Pawnee, and settler descent. She is a descendant of Chief Dull Knife, also known as Morning Star, and Pawnee Woman. She is also a descendant of a pioneer family who settled in Montana during the late 1800s. Francine received a Master of Arts in Oral History from Columbia University and a Master of Arts in Native American Studies from Montana State University. Her graduate studies have focused on settler colonialism processes and bison and land restoration. Her work has primarily focused on helping others learn about these processes and to evolve them for the benefit of the greater whole. She enjoys hiking, skiing, ice climbing, and spending time with her husband and beagle near Bozeman and their off-grid cabin near the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.

Contact

[email protected]
505-396-1752

Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner

Tricia, as a child of military parents, spent much of her childhood moving frequently in the U.S. and abroad, but calls El Paso, TX home. Growing up on the banks of the (often dry) Rio Grande and the water scarcity of the Southwest sparked a life-long interest in finding solutions for water conflicts in the arid and semi-arid American West. Tricia received a B.S. in Geography with a focus on human-environment connection from New Mexico State University. Her research while there centered on water management across borders. She spent 5 years working with the Southwest Environmental Center working to protect and restore the wildlife and wild places of the Southwest borderlands, particularly focused on the recovery of the Mexican gray wolf. In 2015, Tricia moved to Washington state to pursue a graduate degree, receiving an M.S. in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University. Her thesis, which conducted an adaptive capacity assessment of the Upper Klamath Basin, utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She worked for nearly four years on salmon recovery as the Lead Entity Coordinator for the Yakima Basin in central Washington, bringing together a diverse group of interests and perspectives. Tricia joined WildEarth Guardians as the Rio Grande Campaigner in 2021.

Protecting endangered species – using the Endangered Species Act to save imperiled wildlife

Endangered Species Act Protections

You Can Protect Endangered Species

Guardians and the Endangered Species Act

Education and Outreach

Prairie Dog Day

“The Troubles With Trapping” New Mexican Roadshow

Coexisting With Cougars

Defend the Endangered Species Act

How You Can Help

Recent Stories From Wildlife

Wildlife Press

WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Contact

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Contact

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Contact

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

Dustin Martin

Member, Board of Directors

Francine D. Spang-Willis

Member, Board of Directors

Contact

Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner