The Endangered Species Act Under Attack: An Update

The Endangered Species Act Under Attack. An article in the national geographic news.nationalgeogrpahic.com website by Christopher Ketcham provides a pro-conservation account of the Endangered Species Act effects and a critique of ongoing Republican efforts to weaken the Act. The article focuses on grizzlies and the actions to delist the species but has listings, photos and links to videos on many other species.  The article most upsetting (to me) revelation was that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has picked “Amec Foster Wheeler” consulting outfit to “manage the scientific peer review of grizzly delisting” when this organization has as major clients large oil and gas corporations, many of whom are planning to initiate projects in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem once the grizzly is delisted. It also cites retired US FWS officials as stating that the agency has been toadying to “constituencies, interest groups, and politicians that are hostile to the mission of the agency. Agency biologists operate in an atmosphere of intimidation and fear of reprisal.”  This is entirely understandable given that the agency was (justifiably) timid during even the Clinton and Obama Administrations and now faces a Trump Administration which will dismiss any concerns about wildlife conservation if it interferes with development of any kind.  I discuss the agency's difficult political situation in several of my Wildlife Politics chapters, especially in the chapter on Implementation.  Check out the article (and photos-videos):  
Inside the Effort to Kill Protections for Endangered Animals.
Christopher Ketcham. May 19, 2017. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/endangered_speciesact/
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