“In the 40, 50 years of the Endangered Species Act, we’ve recovered very few species. … The act itself hasn’t really been successful in saving very many species.”
— EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, in an interview on Fox Business Network, Aug. 14
The Trump administration has finalized new rules to weaken the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a bedrock wildlife conservation law that bars the development of lands where at-risk species live.
In a Fox Business interview, Wheeler defended the regulatory changes, stating that the ESA has “recovered very few species.” Government statistics show that 47 species of plants and animals deemed at risk under the ESA have been “recovered,” out of nearly 2,000 that have appeared on the list.
But Wheeler is using a very strict definition of what it means to save a species from extinction. These conservation efforts work over many years, and not all species joined the list in 1973. The ESA could be helping a “threatened” or “endangered” species regrow its population significantly before U.S. officials classify it as “recovered” and take it off the list.
View the complete August 16 article by Salvador Rizzo on The Washington Post website here.