WildEarth Guardians

Monday, September 1, 2003
Citizens and the Endangered Species Act

How will we explain to our children the disappearance of the American Serengeti?
Contact: The Humane Society

How will we explain to our children the disappearance of the American Serengeti, a landscape made possible by prairie dogs, bison, and wolves, which once stretched across over one hundred million acres on the Great Plains? To what degree will we impoverish human cognition and socialization when the world is sterile and bereft of wildlife, yet over 90% of the objects in children’s books are animals or natural objects and the wild figures prominently in folktales and myths across the globe? Why is it that 66 million Americans enjoy non-consumptive wildlife-related recreation such as bird-watching and wildlife photography, yet our government agencies at the state and federal levels allow broad-scale destruction of natural habitats and permit, or themselves engage in, unsustainable hunting, trapping, and fishing of the wildlife we enjoy?

The Endangered Species Act provides us with tools to craft effective protections against human activities that are driving species and ecosystems to extinction. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

Citizens and the ESA - Fact Sheet (PDF)