By Patricia Houser
For Nature’s Sake
Patricia Houser
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the US Endangered Species Act. Congress passed the act with overwhelming bipartisan support, and President Richard Nixon signed the ESA into law on Dec. 28, 1973, noting, “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.”
To honor the occasion, the quiz below, with answers provided, can serve as a self-challenge or a supplement to trivia games at holiday gatherings.
1. The main purpose of the U.S. endangered species act is to…
a) protect humans from dangerous animals
b) prevent the extinction of species
c) bring back species that have already become extinct
2. Which of the following types of living things are protected by the ESA?
a) fish
b) insects
c) coral
d) mammals and other vertebrates
e) plants
f) all of the above
3. Which of the following is false?
a) Federal agencies are not supposed to fund or participate in actions that can harm an endangered or threatened species.
b) It is against the law to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect an endangered species.
c) The import or export of endangered species is illegal.
d) It’s against the law to degrade or alter the habitat of an endangered species in a way that threatens their survival.
e) Hiking or birdwatching in areas inhabited by endangered or threatened species is forbidden.
4. Which two of the following federal organizations are the lead agencies (other agencies must consult with them) in managing the ESA?
a) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
b) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
c) US Fish and Wildlife
d) US Food and Drug Administration
5. True/False: Even non-endangered species benefit from rules under the ESA.
6. The most endangered animals in the US today, according to earth.org, includes the following list. Which one of the species below was reduced to a population of six animals in the wild in the 1980s – in part because of lead poisoning?
a) Florida panther
b) California condor
c) Florida manatee
d) black-footed ferret
e) Franklin’s bumblebee
7. Which two of the following bird species were once labeled as endangered (nearly extinct) and are now “delisted,” or totally removed from protections because they now enjoy healthy, self-sustaining, numbers?
a) brown pelican
b) ivory billed woodpecker
c) American eagle
d) whooping crane
8. The five states listed below have the highest number of endangered species in the country, based on US Fish and Wildlife data and reported by USA Today. Which one of the five has the highest number of endangered species?
a) Florida
b) California
c) Tennessee
d) Hawaii
e) Alabama
9. Which of the following species, found in New Haven County, are listed under the ESA as animals in need of special protection?
a) bog turtle
b) monarch butterfly
c) northern long-eared bat
d) piping plover
e) roseate tern
f) all of the above
10. According to recent research from the nonprofit natureserve.org, what percent of animals in the US are currently at risk for extinction?
a) 5 percent
b) 20 percent
c) 40 percent
d) 80 percent
Answers
1. b
2. f; all of the above. Although we sometimes think of insects as pests, they also play a crucial role in making the Earth habitable for humans. Pollinators such as bees and butterflies, among other things, are essential for our survival.
3. e
4. b and c
5. True. When land developers adjust their designs to protect an endangered species, other local plants and animals benefit. Individual species play a role in overall ecosystem health, as illustrated by the reintroduction of grey wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. In the decades since the return of wolves, the elk population at Yellowstone has been hardier and more stable, according to National Geographic. Another benefit, say wildlife biologists, is the increase of willow and aspen trees in the park, formerly over-browsed by elk. In a series of cascading benefits, the increase in trees has enabled beavers to create dams which has, in turn, helped create a healthier system of streams and ponds for a broader array of wildlife. For more on this, see the article titled “Wolf Reintroduction Changes Yellowstone Ecosystem” at yellowstonepark.com.
6. b; the biggest threat to California condors is lead poisoning, according to the National Park Service. Inhabiting regions where hunting and ranching are common, the condors scavenge animal remains that tend to be contaminated by fragments of lead ammunition. For other species, according to experts, the most frequent cause of extinction is habitat loss – including habitat degraded by climate change. Other major factors of species loss include over-exploitation of wildlife for commercial purposes, invasive species, pollution and the spread of diseases.
7. a and c; in addition to measures taken under the ESA, both the brown pelican and American bald eagle benefitted from the federal ban on the general use of the pesticide DDT in 1972. The eagle was declared recovered, and delisted, in 2007 and the pelican in 2009. The whooping crane, on the other hand, is still severely endangered. Even more tragically, the ivory billed woodpecker has been officially declared extinct and is delisted for that reason.
8. d
9. f; all of the above. Residents of Milford and Orange are fortunate to have examples of these rare species in our midst. We can do our part to help them recover, even on the neighborhood level, by sharing sightings with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and, for instance, offering friendly plantings for the monarch butterfly.
10. c
There’s much to celebrate about the ESA, including the fact that 99 percent of species listed on it have been saved from extinction. Still, threats to ecosystems and wildlife in succeeding decades have multiplied, and certain refinements to wildlife policy are needed. In this new era, experts like Jenny Dickson, acting chief of the Bureau of Natural Resources at the state DEEP, refer to the vital importance, for instance, of passing the Recovering American Wildlife Act.
Among other things, says Dickson, we need to “proactively protect species and their habitats before they reach the point of what is essentially emergency room care.”
Patricia Houser, PhD, AICP, shares her exploration of local and regional environmental issues in this column as a member of the nonpartisan Milford Environmental Concerns Coalition.