The Endangered Species Act at 50

The Endangered Species Act at 50

0:00:00.8 Speaker 1: In 1972, President Nixon called on Congress to pass sweeping environmental legislation.

0:00:08.0 Speaker 2: Each of us, all across this great land, has a stake in maintaining and improving environmental quality. Clean air and clean water, the wise use of our land, the protection of wildlife and natural beauty, parks for all to enjoy. These are part of the birthright of every American.

0:00:22.7 S1: A year later in 1973, with wide bipartisan support, Congress passed and the president signed the Endangered Species Act, one of the most powerful conservation laws in history. This is Dive In, with NOAA Fisheries, I'm John Sheehan. And today we're celebrating the ESA as it approaches its 50th anniversary, with Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator of NOAA Fisheries, one of the two federal agencies responsible for the protection, conservation and recovery of species listed under the Act. As we'll hear, despite threats to these species survival, whether it be a historic practice like whaling or recent challenges created by climate change, since its signing less than 1% of the species listed under the Act have gone extinct. It's a heartening success rate made possible by the law's focus on science and the strength it gives the agency in issuing regulations and policy. Janet Coit, welcome back to Dive In with NOAA Fisheries.

0:01:18.4 Speaker 3: Thank you, John. Good to be back.

0:01:20.6 S1: So Janet, let's talk about the Endangered Species Act. It's the 50th anniversary of this law, and it's been called foundational. Can you tell us why? What was so original about this law?

0:01:32.0 S3: I think it's probably one of the strongest laws in the whole wide world. I'm really proud of the United States and wanna do a lot to celebrate its 50th anniversary. I think it's foundational because it creates an imperative that we work to prevent extinction and recover species that are on the brink. And one of its key aspects is it's based on science, so decisions on whether a species is listed as threatened or endangered, have to be based on the best available science.

0:02:05.7 S1: Yeah, these aren't arbitrary decisions, these are species that are either endangered or threatened based on science.

0:02:12.5 S3: Right, there might be many reasons for which they're imperiled, but the status is based on science. And the responsibility is not just with agencies like the National Marine Fisheries Service, but with all federal agencies, to prevent jeopardizing and to work to recover species.

0:02:33.1 S1: And for a little bit of background, could you tell us the difference between endangered and threatened, what does it mean that a species is threatened as opposed to endangered?

0:02:41.1 S3: So under the Act, the species is considered threatened if it's likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future. And then a species is endangered if it's in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. So we have some species where there's different population segments, some of which are threatened or endangered and some of which are not listed, depending on the habitat or other things that are causing harm to the species.

0:03:09.8 S1: And with those distinctions, what are the responsibilities that are directed at NOAA Fisheries?

0:03:15.5 S3: So several things under the Act, one is to help to recover species, so if a species is listed, we work on a recovery plan. We're not going to implement that plan on our own, we have tribal partners, state partners, industry partners, other federal agencies, but a plan on how to get from the imperiled state, the threatened or endangered state, to recovery status. And we have some real success stories there, where species that are on the list have been recovered. One that I think NOAA is very proud of is the gray whale, specifically the Eastern North Pacific gray whale, and that was a species on the list from the beginning. They migrate between Alaska and Mexico, and they were almost driven to extinction, in that case by whaling. And successful conservation efforts helped the species recover and it was delisted in 1994. So it was one of the really big success stories under the Act. So we're responsible to help mitigate threats and recover a species.

0:04:13.8 S3: We're also... We play a specific role for fish and marine mammals, which is consulting with other federal agencies any time their planned development or their planned federal action could affect a listed species. So we'll work from the Navy to EPA, when it comes to registering pesticides, any federal action that might harm endangered salmon or Right whales or sea turtles, we're going to work with them to mitigate those threats. And then another area where we have explicit responsibility is to prevent the take, the take being direct harm, like killing a species or things that harass or might not pose a mortal threat, but will make it more difficult for the species to thrive. And in that case, we both have responsibility for permitting actions to ensure that they don't take the species, but also to prosecute and enforce against folks who are illegally taking listed species.

0:05:12.5 S1: Right, because sometimes the take of a species is unpreventable or sometimes it's just permitted for any number of reasons, but that all goes through the agency.

0:05:22.3 S3: Right, it goes through the agency and we're able, in all cases, to evaluate it based on science and to work to mitigate or reduce any threats. And in some cases, we've been able to work with industry, say the Shrimp industry in the Gulf that developed an innovation working with NOAA Fisheries, called the Turtle Excluder Device. We've been able to take a look at threats and then work with the fishing sector or other sectors to find technological innovations that reduce that threat. One of those that's very much in the news lately are the threats to one of our most endangered species, which is the North Atlantic Right whale, and we've been working to reduce the vertical lines in the lobster fishery that can lead to entanglement and then death of these species. So innovations around Ropeless gear, that would still allow the lobster sector to fish successfully and land lobster, but would reduce the amount of vertical lines in the water that can ensnare Right whales, that's another good example.

0:06:24.6 S1: Yeah, and despite what seems to be a very challenging job, there's actually been a very high success rate, to your point earlier, I think, since the law signing. Almost no species have gone extinct.

0:06:36.4 S3: Correct. Climate change is making things more difficult because we're seeing changes in the ecosystems and changes in prey abundance, changes that we've never seen before. So I think we've got our hands full when it comes to ice melting in the Arctic or prey dispersal in the Atlantic, but the law has been a great success. As you said, less than 1% of the species that are listed have gone extinct, and I think there's a great rallying cry. The law has very explicit teeth, but nobody wants to see a glorious creature of nature go extinct, so it helps to have a very strong law, but we have a lot of support for conservation among the American people.

0:07:16.3 S1: And I think another one of the law's strengths is that it explicitly calls out conservation of habitat, which I believe is another one of the law's sort of special powers.

0:07:28.5 S3: Yes, so you don't have very successful wildlife if you don't have healthy habitats. The law requires that the agencies, once a species is on the list, designate critical habitat and then that habitat is also afforded protections under the law. So while it's focused on the specific species, it ends up providing an apparatus to protect habitat that is actually important to a multitude of species. So I think one of the benefits of the law has been, if you're looking to restore a salmon population along with reconnecting a river or making sure that its water quality is improved, you are working to restore a specific species, that is the focus, but by improving the health of the habitat, there's myriad benefits for other species that also depend on that habitat.

0:08:19.2 S1: And your career has overlapped with the ESA a number of times. I'm not thinking of just your time in federal government, but going back to the States.

0:08:27.5 S3: Yes, throughout my career, and it's now about four decades long, I've worked on endangered species issues, and that's been a really rewarding, as well as daunting, awesome part of my career. When I worked in the US Senate, I worked for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and for the Ultimate Chair at the time, Senator John Chafee from Rhode Island, and we were working on supporting and re-authorizing the Endangered Species Act. So we were very involved in looking for ways to improve conservation of candidate species, to prevent them from getting on the list, to looking at the habitat needs for some of the high profile species that were listed and causing conflict at the time. And then as the head of the state agency for 10 years, we had grant funding coming to us to help do the conservation work underground, states are key partners in conservation. And now I'm here at NOAA Fisheries, where we have both a Species in the Spotlight program and we try to highlight and celebrate what's important and special about some of the species that are on the list and then work on their recovery. So it's a bit of a through line for my career, and I'm proud of that.

0:09:38.9 S1: And I'm glad you brought up the Species in the Spotlight because as you mentioned, there are species that are not only featured to get more attention, but they actually get more in terms of resources too, because they're really in need of recovery. Can we talk about a couple of them?

0:09:53.0 S3: Sure.

0:09:54.5 S1: I'm thinking of... Let's start with white abalone.

0:09:58.9 S3: Great, yeah. So I was able to visit our South West Science Center Lab in La Jolla, where we're doing really exciting work on white abalone, and they are an endangered species with a really important role to play. White abalone are sometimes called architects of the kelp forest because what they do, the role that they play in protecting and restoring kelp forest through the way that they graze on algae, and they can keep these habitats more open and that promotes the biodiversity within these kelp forests. Anyway, it was super exciting to go to our lab and see the work that we're doing on breeding these species so they can be restored to the wild.

0:10:39.8 S1: Yeah. And on the opposite side of the country, you've seen some of the work that's being done with Atlantic salmon.

0:10:45.3 S3: Yes, one of the more thrilling moments, probably since I came to NOAA Fisheries was seeing wild Atlantic salmon in the Sandy River in Maine. And a lot of excitement around recovering Atlantic salmon, they're iconic and they travel great distances from their natal rivers where they're spawned out into the sea, and then back again to spawn as adults. So the work that we've done on Atlantic salmon and actually seeing adult salmon return to Maine rivers, seeing them in the wild, so very exciting to see the fruits of all of that and to see fish in the wild. I was also able in Hawaii, to see Monk seals and the recovery work that we've done. And they're a highly endangered species, and working again with partners to understand better the threats to their health. So I saw them both in the lab and also at a marine mammal center where again, people are working to return malnourished and injured monk seals back to the wild, so they can become adults and help recover the population. So there's a whole variety of science and partners and work depending on the needs of the different species.

0:11:55.3 S1: And let's talk a little bit more about some of the work that NOAA Fisheries does with partners, but by necessity. You've mentioned a few times how it's a really busy ocean and there are a lot of different ocean uses, from shipping or commercial fishing, to military uses, to energy development, there's a lot of things going on. Can you discuss how important it is that NOAA Fisheries sort of communicate and work with partners?

0:12:20.0 S3: It's imperative. There's no environmental issue that we tackle that one federal agency could accomplish alone. And working with partners, both because of the vast geographies that are involved, when we're talking about many of these species on the endangered and threatened list, but also because of the needs and the different roles that need to be fulfilled, it's critical that we work with partners. Your question brings to mind, in terms of our Species in the Spotlight, we have a couple species of salmon that we are promoting the recovery of and working really closely with tribes that are doing habitat restoration work and have deep understanding, traditional knowledge of the salmon populations and their needs, as well as the states who are working to recover the species, even with international partners. So none of this work is uniquely NOAA Fisheries, while we play a key role in the work with partners that better understand the science to reduce the threats and to conserve the habitat, that's among the most rewarding work we do.

0:13:21.4 S1: A lot of NOAA Fisheries sort of foundational science work, and I'm thinking of surveys, of sampling, of taking ocean conditions, of sampling fish stocks, might not seem directly related to conservation or to the ESA, but it really kind of is.

0:13:38.3 S3: Right, the statute requires us to make decisions based on science, but science requires good data, so both when it comes to listing a species or delisting species, hopefully, when it comes to designating critical habitat. So I think the role that NOAA Fisheries and states and academia and our partners play in terms of the science to better understand genetics, habitat, warming ecosystems, can't be under-sold in terms of its relevance and importance in the conservation work that we're required to carry out under the Endangered Species Act.

0:14:20.2 S1: And finally, could we sort of reflect on the law's relevance? It's 50 years old now, and it seems to me that it's still as relevant and as necessary as it was when it was signed.

0:14:32.3 S3: Yes, and yes. It's interesting to me that in 1973, in December of 1973, it was signed with overwhelming bipartisan support, and thank goodness it was, because the strength of the Act has enabled us to conserve and recover habitat and species that would not have happened, but for this very strong law. It's not only relevant today, the law didn't anticipate a climate change and some of the threats that we're experiencing today, but its key components, science-based listing and decision-making, identifying, reducing threats, working together on a recovery plan, are just as relevant today and are continuing to drive our agenda, and give us the tools and the levers and the teeth to continue this really important work to protect all the species on the endangered species list, hopefully get them off the list, and conserve biodiversity and the habitat it depends upon.

0:15:32.4 S1: Yeah. Janet Coit, thanks so much.

0:15:35.5 S3: Thank you, John. Great to talk to you.

0:15:37.0 S1: Janet Coit is the Assistant Administrator of NOAA Fisheries, one of the two agencies responsible for implementing the Endangered Species Act. We're celebrating the ESA's 50th anniversary this year, it was signed into law in 1973. You can learn a lot more about it and the marine species it protects at fisheries.noaa.gov. I'm John Sheehan, and this has been Dive In with NOAA Fisheries.