Our Historic Endangered Species Act
Settlement Concludes:
Learn about the progress we’ve made
for imperiled species
Dear Guardian,
We
want to share our new report, Progress
for Protection, with you as our historic
Endangered Species Act (ESA) settlement agreement with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service comes to a close.
The settlement addressed
the significant backlog of imperiled species awaiting Endangered Species Act
protections, requiring the agency to make final decisions on whether to protect
hundreds of species.
We’re proud to
present Progress for Protection,
written by Taylor Jones, Guardians’ Endangered Species Advocate, who shepherded
the settlement through five years. The
report details the results of the settlement, introduces some of the many
species that now have strong legal protections, highlights remaining threats, and
previews how Guardians will continue to fight for our most vulnerable wildlife.
In 2011, 252
species were on the ESA’s “candidate” list, meaning the Service agreed they likely
needed protections, but were yet to receive legal safeguards. Some languished for decades with no safeguards from extinction, stuck behind what we
called the “listing logjam.” Because of the settlement, all those
species received decisions about whether to list them under the ESA.
The settlement
paved the way to more efficient and timely Endangered Species Act decisions and
resulted in significant conservation benefits on the ground.
With your
support, Guardians’ hard-hitting and innovative legal work led to protections for 160 species and proposed protections for 14 more, as well as
progress toward protection for hundreds of other imperiled animals and plants.
The settlement
also resulted in the protection of 2,713,154.7 acres
(4,239.3 square miles)—an area larger than Yellowstone National Park—and 6,380.4
stream and river miles as habitat critical to the survival and recovery of at
risk species.
We are
celebrating the success of the settlement, and redoubling our efforts to defend
the law that defends our most imperiled wildlife. Read Progress for Protection to learn more about how far we’ve come and the
challenges that remain.
Thank you for your support of Guardians’ efforts to
defend all species’ inherent right to exist and thrive.
For the wild,
Bethany Cotton
Wildlife Program Director
WildEarth Guardians
bcotton@wildearthguardians.org
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