by Donna Hart
The Endangered Species Act was signed into law in December 1973. Since that time, many species have been added to the endangered or threatened list but only a few have been removed because populations improved.
For a species to get on the list, anyone can petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The information to determine if a species should be listed does not have to be verified or pass any scientific test. It just has to be the “best available data”.
The golden-checked warbler was entered as an emergency listing to the Endangered Species list on a handwritten petition by a member of Earth First! The petition wasn’t challenged so it went on the list. The USFWS estimates there are between 4,800-16,016 pairs of the songbird in Texas. The Service was using a 1988 analysis of satellite images to determine habitat.
The Houston toad was listed in 1973 after a request by an amateur herpetologist. The toad can be found in at least five central Texas counties, but the USFWS still doesn’t have a clear-cut definition of habitat or a good estimate of the population. Taxpayers in Bastrop County paid $100,000 for tunnels under a highway that crosses alleged toad habitat so the toads could safely cross the road.
In the United States, there are 895 protected species and over 3,000 candidates.
One woman near Austin, TX was told the USFWS might let her build on her lot, but the USFWS would have to approve all landscape plants for her yard. No golden-checked warblers have been found on her land.
Changes in the Endangered Species Act are likely soon, either through court decisions or through legislation, since the Act must be reauthorized by Congress.
Several suits, including one field by the Texas attorney general, have challenged the way the Endangered Species Act is enforced and all basically say the law does not allow the federal government’s actions in question.
The 10 most expensive
Recovery plans for endangered species.(in millions of dollars):
1. Atlantic Green Turtle $88.2
2. Loggerhead Turtle $85.9
3. Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard $70.2
4. Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle $63.6
5. Colorado Squawfish $57.7
6. Humpback Chub $57.7
7. Bonytail Chub $57.7
8. Razorback Sucker $57.7
9. Black-capped Vireo $53.5
10. Swamp Pink $29.02
Reprint permission given by AgAir Update, P.O. Box 850, Perry, GA 31069 - an international agricultural aviation publication.
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