Endangered Species Act

1
Endangered Species Act

• National act Instated in 1973
• ESA is the most wide-ranging of the dozens of
  United States environmental laws passed in the
  1970s.
• The stated purpose of the Endangered Species Act
  is to protect species and also "the ecosystems
  upon which they depend." It encompasses plants
  and invertebrates as well as vertebrates. It does
  not expressly include fungi, which were widely
  considered to be plants in 1973.
• designed to protect critically imperiled species
  from extinction as a "consequence of economic
  growth and development untendered by adequate
  concern and conservation."

2
Endangered Species Act

• ESA is administered by two federal agencies, the
  FWS and the NOAA (which includes the National
  Marine Fisheries Service NMFS). NOAA handles
  marine species, and the FWS has responsibility
  over freshwater fish and all other species.
  Species that occur in both habitats (e.g. sea
  turtles and Atlantic sturgeon) are jointly
  managed.