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Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act to identify species of fish, wildlife, and plants that are of aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to
the U.S. government and its people. The reason we have the Endangered Species Act is to provide a way to save endangered species and their environments. The Act is intended to do more than just list species as
endangered or threatened, but also to restore the populations of these species to where they can be taken off the list.
In the 1960’s many environmental laws were passed, but it wasn’t until 1973, when congress passed the Endangered Species Act, that important protection was granted to rare species. The Endangered Species Act was considered by many as, the most important
environmental law ever passed. (See our archives page for the full text.)
The Endangered Species Act says that the Secretary of the Interior will determine if a species is threatened or endangered, based on man-made factors affecting their continued existence.
Endangered: If a species is listed as endangered, then they are in danger of extinction throughout all or a portion of their range.
Threatened:
If a species is listed as threatened, such as the Sea Otters, they are likely to become endangered in the near future.
Candidates:
Is a name used to describe groups of plants, fish, or wildlife, that may become endangered or threatened. The Fish and Wildlife Service keeps a list of candidate species.
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