The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed to protect imperiled species from extinction.
The Act places great restrictions on property owners who discover endangered species on their property. One of those restrictions may be an owner being unable to develop his or her property.
For example, if an endangered bird is located on the property where a public park is being built, the government may halt the park’s construction.
Purpose of Act
Congress passed the act in 1973 to maintain the world’s rich and diverse ecological systems. Knowing that once certain plants and animals became extinct they could no longer come back into existence, the act gives the EPA the power to protect the species that are most at risk. Through the act the EPA has the right to enforce laws and impose strict penalties against parties that do acts that put endangered plants and animals in danger.
The act specifies at risk plants and animals as either being “endangered” or “threatened.” Endangered means the animal or plant is near imminent death as a species, while “threatened” means the plant or animal can become endangered shortly. Only insects do not have the capacity to be considered threatened or endangered. Every other lifeform is eligible to be labeled as threatened or endangered.
The act has conservation methods in place to keep the ecosystem healthy by having measures that aim to conserve species considered threatened or endangered.
There are 2,300 species that are endangered in The United State’s has jurisdiction over 160 species, while the remaining belong to the international community.
