Written with biodiversity in mind, and to strengthen previous US conservation laws, the ESA empowered the federal government to get serious about protecting the United States’ most imperiled species of plants, mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects by making it illegal to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect” them.

According to the US Department of the Interior, the ESA “has been credited with saving 99% of listed species from extinction thanks to the collaborative actions of federal agencies, state, local and Tribal governments, conservation organizations and private citizens”.

Which brings us to the bad news: “After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years,” the Associated Press announced this past August, “the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril.” The AP wrote that “environmental advocates and scientists say [the ESA] is as essential as ever.

Follow the money, in particular campaign donations to rightwing lawmakers from wealthy landowner associations and industry groups (logging, mining, oil, coal and gas) that oppose the ESA, which they say stifles economic growth and property rights.

That mindset, coupled with the rise of agriculture and industry, accelerated the destruction of entire ecosystems, culminating in the largest wildlife slaughter in the history of the world: the killing of tens of millions of North American buffalo.

Clean air, carbon storage, water purification, food and drink, natural medicines, disease and pest control, nutrient cycling, soil fertility, pollination, habitats for wildlife, spiritual connections, sense of place, inspiration, recreation and physical and mental wellbeing – to name a few.

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