A Law that Pits People Against Plants and Animals
1. Read the facts below about the Endangered Species Act and visit Internet sites which give more information about the Act.
Have students think about situations which might take place and how this law might create problems for people or the species being protected.
For example, pretend you inherited a large piece of land and wanted to sell it to a developer who was going to build houses. You are told that you can not sell the land for that purpose because it is the home of several species that are on the endangered list. What could you do?
What if you are an endangered animal and houses and shopping centers are all around you. There is only the land that you were born on that you can safely live on and find food. How will you survive if the builders decide to build on the land where your animal family lives? Where would you have left to go?
Situations have pitted people building a dam in Tennessee on the Tellico River in 1977 against those protecting the endangered snail darter found in the river. More recently the endangered Mexican gray wolf is fighting to survive as scientists are trying to reintroduce it along the New Mexico-Arizona border. Five of the first 11 set free in the area were found shot and another just disappeared. In Colorado there were protests during the fall of 1998 about the loss of habitat for the lynx, a small bobcat being considered for protection.
2. Visit Internet sites which list endangered species and tell more about their plight.
The Florida Game and Fish Commission listing of Endangered Species (http://fcn.state.fl.us/gfc/viewing/species/) includes many species on its list but there are many others. Which of these species have students heard of? What makes keeping each of these from becoming extinct important to the environment?
More information on endangered species can be found at the US EPA Picture Book pages. "This picture book will introduce you to 21 endangered and threatened plants and animals found in the United States. As you use your crayons on these pages, you will journey to oceans, swamps, deserts,and islands and bring to life a variety of plants and animals." Pages can be downloaded. Text for the Learn About Endangered Species section is easy to read and illustrations are helpful. This should be a good resource to help explain how animals may become endangered.
Take a Cool Tour of endangered animals online and find out how humans taking up more space on our planet creates problems for animals. Learn what kids can do to help. Take a quiz when you finish the tour.
3. Participate in Wildlife Week coming up during the spring of 1999.
The theme of 1998's Educator's Kit is: NATURE'S WEB™: Caring for The Land. The 1999 Educator's Kit and Website - NATURE'S WEB™: Keep The Wild Alive is currently in development. Visit the site at http://www.nwf.org/nwf/wlifweek/index.html and sign up to receive a copy of the guide so you can celebrate National Wildlife Week this spring. The focus this year is on Endangered Species.
4. See what could be done to help endangered species by using the grounds on your school yards.
Visit the site titled In Your Backyard (http://www.nwf.org/nwf/action/backyard.html) to see what actions your class might use to preserve and protect our environment which can start in their own backyards.
Also visit Animal Tracks (http://www.nwf.org/nwf/atracks/index.html ) site to get the on-line and print versions of their environmental education guides and activities for educators and kids, suitable for classroom or youth group use.
Facts about the Endangered Species Act
Enacted: Signed by President Nixon on December 28, 1973. Passed in the Senate by 92 to 0 and in the House 355 to 4. When Nixon signed the bill there were believed to be 109 species needing protection.
Purpose: To protect species from becoming extinct. The act covers all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, clams,snails, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, flowering plants, conifers, ferns and other species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains the "List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants,"which identifies species protected under the ESA. Once a species is officially listed as endangered or threatened, it is given full legal protection under the ESA.
The Act forbids the import, export, or interstate or foreign sale of protected animals and plants without a special permit. It is also illegal to kill, harm, harass, possess, or remove protected animals from the wild. In addition, the Act requires all federal agencies to conserve listed species and to ensure that any activity they fund, authorize, or carry out will not jeopardize the survival of a listed species.
Number of species on the list as of 1998: 1,177 of which 475 are animals and 702 are plants.
How to Put a species on the list: Anyone may petition to add a species to either the threatened or endangered list. If the species is listed it is protected from being killed or its habitat destroyed. The government must designate the critical habitat area and develop a habitat recovery plan. The government may issue exceptions or issue permits for "incidental taking" of a species as part of land use or as part of a specific habitat conservation plan.
Endangered species recovered: 11 species including brown pelicans, Palau dove, Old World flycatcher, Palau owl, American alligator, Rydbery milk-vetch, gray whale, Arctic peregrine falcon, eastern gray kangaroo, red kangaroo, western gray kangaroo have been recovered. Only 27 species have been removed from the list and of those some may have been listed by mistake.
Many feel the law has prevented the disappearance of hundreds of species and changed public attitudes in how we view and treat the land.