The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, Volume II: The Next Fifty Years

(Hardback)

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The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) is one of the most cherished and reviled laws ever passed. It mandates protection and preservation of all the nations species and biodiversity, whatever the cost. It has been a lightning rod for controversy and conflicts between industry/business and environmentalists.

In this volume, leading Endangered Species Act experts interpret and propose legislative and administrative changes to prepare the ESA for future challenges. They explore regulations on avoiding harm to and producing benefits for species, cooperation between state and federal agencies, scientific analyses, and the necessary politics to enact their ideas.

This is a call to action to chart an enlightened future for the Endangered Species Act that embraces the nations moral commitment of 50 years ago to address species extinction constructively, mindful of biodiversity, and as a fixture among the nations values and needs. The interconnected web of life includes all living species that depend on each other for survival, us among them. The stakesour very futureare too high to ignore.

Reviews

If the last fifty years were about preventing extinction by establishing an effective ESA emergency room for the most imperiled species, the next half century must be about confronting the extinction crisis by building a system of preventative and rehabilitative care that invests both upstream to save at-risk species before theyre on the brink of extinction and to accelerate the recovery of species already listed. For years, Lowell Baier has been a key partner in our work by advancing a national conversation on the best way to recover at-risk species. He brings the same level of bipartisan zeal that originally brought the ESA to life. Through the Codex, he convenes a broad range of authors who aspire to improve the law so it can continue to thrive in a new, modern era. Lowell shines a light on all aspects of the ESA, from the technical and administrative to its economic, legal, and political implications. -- Senator Martin Heinrich, United States Senate, New Mexico (D)

More than a decade has passed since the UN warned of the global threat to biodiversity. Yet, little has been accomplished to alleviate this threat to nature and society. The biodiversity crisis demands a comprehensive, collaborative, science-driven response. The Codex of the Endangered
Species Act, Volume II offers a range of innovative conservation strategies for tackling this crisis building on the lessons learned over the past 5 decades in implementing this ground-breaking law. The Congress, federal and state fish and wildlife agencies and their conservation partners, private landowners, and conservation organizations all have opportunities to improve outcomes for species and their ecosystems. This book urges us to seize them now.

-- Jim Lyons, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment; USDI Deputy Assistant Secretary, Lands and Minerals Management; Professor in the Practice of Natural Resource Management, Yale University; Lecturer, Yale School of Forestry
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 spawned to thwart the continued loss of species. The law's effectiveness lies at the intersection of science and policy and this book captures the present need to improve science, policy, and their integration if we are to meet the challenges posed by the anthropogenic sixth mass extinction. The authors have assembled a star cast of leading experts and practitioners that culminated in a must-read for anyone concerned about the future of the nation's biodiversity. -- Dr. Edward B. Arnett Ph.D., CEO, The Wildlife Society. Certified Wildlife Biologist

Wildlife conservation today too often seems an intractable problem. Conflicting priorities for
land, resources, and funding divide us along familiar lines: public-private, state-federal, Republican-Democrat. The Codex of the Endangered Species Act, Volume II is a beacon of hope, offering solutions that bring people together. Over the course of more than a dozen essays by over 25 distinguished experts, the book presents a blueprint for a world where wildlife management is not riddled with conflict but is instead collaborative, innovative, and effective conservation.

-- Leopoldo Miranda-Castro, Executive Director, Conservation Without Conflict. and Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2018-2022)

Author Bio

Lowell E. Baier is an attorney and a legal and environmental historian and author. He has worked in Washington, D.C. throughout his fifty-eight-year career as a tireless advocate for natural resources and wildlife conservation.

John F. Organ is Chief of the Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units and Senior Science Advisor for Cooperative Research for the U.S. Geological Survey.