Tag: ESA

by Tim Pearce   The Endangered Species Act (ESA) may protect nearly every listed species from extinction, but the law’s recovery rate for threatened and endangered populations is dismal, so far. The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) released a report Wednesday pointing out a severe shortfall of the ESA: only two percent of species listed under the law have been officially removed from the list as “recovered.” An April 16 study by The Heritage Foundation concluded the real recovery rate is closer to one percent. Proponents of the ESA, however, credit the law for keeping 99 percent of listed species from dying out, though that stat is based on the flawed assumption every listed species would go extinct without federal protection. Still, the ESA is much better at preventing an ailing species from getting worse rather than encouraging its growth. “Few species protected by [the ESA] have gone extinct. That’s reason for celebration,” PERC fellow Jonathan Wood, who authored the Wednesday report, wrote. “But … we want endangered species to recover as well. Achieving that goal, without sacrificing the law’s success at preventing extinction, requires reform that aligns the incentives of private landowners with the interests of rare species while maintaining regulatory protections for endangered species.”…