Endangered Species Act Birthday Discussion

Just finished a live broadcast with the syndicated, NPR program "1A" reflecting on fifty years of the Endangered Species Act. The hour-long segment included two other panelists: former U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Director (currently Defenders or Wildlife leader) Jamie Clark and the writer Michelle Nijhuis. It was the kick-off show of this week’s theme of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. I talked mostly about the law and conservation practices. We all agreed that it is impossible to stem the rising tide of extinctions without preventive conservation to slow the decline of species not yet imperiled but whose populations and habitat are diminishing. Reviving the Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA), which came close to passing Congress in Dec. 2022, would be an effective first step.