Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
Friends of the Earth’s biodiversity campaign seeks to protect species by safeguarding the Endangered Species Act and reverse Trump rollbacks. We will not stand aside while our wildlife and the laws keeping them safe are under attack.
What is the Endangered Species Act?
The Endangered Species Act is a piece of federal legislation put in place to help protect and recover threatened and endangered species. The Endangered Species Act has a 99% success rate in saving listed species from extinction and has historically had widespread bipartisan support across America.
What does the Endangered Species Act do?
The Endangered Species Act establishes protections for fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered, and the ecosystems they rely on. All species of plants and animals are eligible to be listed if they meet certain criteria.
If a species is listed as endangered that means that are at risk of extinction through all or some of its range. If a species is listed as threatened that means that they are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
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History of the Endangered Species Act
The first form of federal protections for endangered species came via the Lacey Act of 1900, in response to concerns about passenger pigeon populations. Following a rise in environmental activism, Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1966, leading to the creation of the first endangered species list.
The growth of the environmental movement in 1960 led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and soon after Congress passed the Endangered Species Act of 1973. This version was built on previous bills, strengthening protections for threatened and endangered species and their habitats.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Endangered Species Act still exists and is one of the best tools we have to protect species from violence and climate-wrecking industries. But repeated attempts to strip Endangered Species Act protections from certain species, broad rollbacks from the presidential administrations, and attacks on the Endangered Species Act by Big Oil, logging, and mining, continue to threaten the bill, endangered species and their habitats.
A major part of the Endangered Species Act is the mandate that all federal agencies avoid taking actions that are likely to harm — or “jeopardize” — endangered species and their habitats. When proposing a project, federal agencies must formally meet with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine if and how a proposal could affect endangered species. If it will cause or contribute to the threat of extinction, the lead agency must adopt alternatives to prevent that harm. Most projects are found to pose no risk or are modified to avoid harm. Where there is a rare and truly irreconcilable conflict between species survival and a project, the Endangered Species Act provides for an Exemption Committee (colloquially referred to as the “God Squad”) to convene. Historically, this has only occurred in very rare cases so that the committee can determine whether a development should proceed despite harm to protected species.
The Endangered Species Act Exemption Committee was created by Congress in 1978. Prior to 2026, the committee had only voted to grant an exemption two times. This year, it granted the third exemption in its history to oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The committee is made up of six permanent roles and one additional temporary member:
- Secretary of the Department of the Interior
- Secretary of Agriculture
- Secretary of the Army
- The Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
- The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
- The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- An additional member designated by the president as a representative of the state or states affected by the project.
The Committee’s primary task is to decide whether a proposed project should be granted an exemption from the Endangered Species Act. Five of the seven committee members must find that a proposed project meets the criteria below before the Committee can declare it exempt from the ESA:
- No reasonable alternatives exist
- The project has benefits that outweigh the risks of losing an entire species
- The project is of regional or national significance
- The lead agency has not already committed to plans or a project that would violate the ESA without approval.
Because these exemptions are intended to be exceptionally rare, Congress established rigorous safeguards for considering whether to grant them. The God Squad is permitted to meet and vote only after:
- A determination by the USFWS or the NMFS, after first fulfilling ESA-mandated consultation, that the project would put a species at risk of extinction and that no alternative solutions exist
- A federal agency submits a formal and detailed application for an exemption
- A public process, including an-the-record hearing before an administrative judge to develop a factual and scientific record
This power to decide whether an endangered species lives or dies – essentially playing god – is where the name “The God Squad” comes from.
Friends of the Earth’s biodiversity campaign works to protect species by safeguarding the Endangered Species Act and working to reverse rollbacks by taking cases to court.
Putting a stop to violence against vulnerable and endangered species like gray wolves and grizzly bears and to protect our planet means we’re fighting with everything we have to protect the Endangered Species Act – one of our strongest tools to protect species against climate-wrecking industries and their allies.
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