EP 729 Protections for Endangered Species As Critical Today as It was Fifty Years Ago

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is recognized globally as the most important wildlife conservation law ever passed.  Having turned 50 in 2023, there is no requirement to update it, but given changes in approaches to managing the law and new and growing threats to biodiversity, it is a good time to reconsider what this commitment means to the species, habitats and ecosystems covered by it. Our guest Lowell Baier, a distinguished environmental lawyer and historian, along with Dr. John F. Organ and Christopher E. Segal, have edited “The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, Volume II: The Next Fifty Years”, to look to the challenges that lie ahead.  And while there have been no substantive amendments to the legislation since 1988, the rate of species decline is accelerating at an alarming rate.  This is as a result of a combination of climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, diseases and pollution. Our discussion with Dr. Baier will touch on how the Act was first passed and the adaptations to it needed to reflect today’s realities.

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