Dead or Alive: The Endangered Species Act
Photographs by Joel Sartore
Text by Douglas H. Chadwick
It was nothing less than a rudimentary bill of rights for nonhumans, an attempt to guarantee a future for as many as possible, even if doing so required real sacrifice on our part. No commitment of this order had ever been made before. Based on the assumptions that each life-form may prove valuable in ways we cannot yet measure and that each is entitled to exist for its own sake as well, the U.S. Congress created the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973. It gave the federal government sweeping powers to prevent extinction.
Whereas the 1973 list of threatened and endangered species in the U.S. had 109 names on it, the total is now well over 900. Waiting in line are 3,700 officially recognized candidates, which may qualify for ESA protection but have not yet undergone full review. Also interested in the Act are loggers, fishermen, developers and private landowners who believe that the Act give the government and environmental groups too much control over business decisions and private property. So the question is – will the Endangered Species Act survive?
NGM 1995/03