There are few environmental debates more heated than whether or not to add - or drop - an animal from the Endangered Species Act . Case in point: the debate over whether or not gray wolves in the American West are sufficiently recovered to deserve removal from the list. In the Act’s forty five year history, only thirty nine species have been declared fully recovered. Critics of the Endangered Species Act often cite that as evidence that the law is ineffective, and too cumbersome to be worthwhile. But a new analysis finds that the Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of almost three hundred species. Here are the numbers: Year the Endangered Species Act was passed: 1973 U.S. species currently on the list: 1,471 animals, 947 plants Average time on the Endangered Species list: 25 years Species removed from the list because fully recovered: 39 Species that have gone extinct since being listed: 4 confirmed, 22 possible Estimated species the ESA has prevented from going extinct
There are few environmental debates more heated than whether or not to add - or drop - an animal from the Endangered Species Act . Case in point: the debate over whether or not gray wolves in the American West are sufficiently recovered to deserve removal from the list. In the Act’s forty five year history, only thirty nine species have been declared fully recovered. Critics of the Endangered Species Act often cite that as evidence that the law is ineffective, and too cumbersome to be worthwhile