More than half a century has passed since the Endangered Species Act’s creation, and now some lawmakers are taking a deeper look with critics calling it an abysmal failure.
The Chair of the Congressional Western Caucus says that the legislation today is far from its original intent.
According to Rep Dan Newhouse, “It’s really turned into something beyond what it was meant to be. Over the 51 year history of the ESA, the percentage of endangered species that have been put on this list, the percentage coming off is like 3%. You know over half a century, we are not, by any measure, being successfull in helping endangered species recover.”
It is why Newhouse and the House Natural Resources Chair, Bruce Westerman have introduced the ESA Amendment Act.
“Which is a product of a working group that we put together early in this congressional term to look at those things that we could do to improve and truly get back on track the goals and the mission of the Endangered Species Act,” he adds. “Truly focus on the actual recovery of species.”
Newhouse says that confusion between the difference in preservation and conservation is one of the biggest problems. He believes that we need to protect, yet also use the natural resources we have.