ESA Today

By Rich Kozlovich

The Northern Spotted Owl was listed as a
threatened species under the Endangered
Species Act on June 23, 1990. Logging
in national forests containing the Northern
 Spotted Owlwas stopped by court order in
 1991.
Photo by John and
Karen Hollingsworth / USFWS

Something that I have been wanting to do for some time is highlight just how invasive the Endangered Species Act really is. Every day I get an alert dealing with the latest infringement on people's rights by those who think that people are no more important than worms. The Endangered Species Act was voted in by Congress without hardly any comment. The Congress had the 'romantic' species in mind, such as buffalo, elk, bear, etc., and never in a million years dreamed ESA would be used as it is today. The ESA gave standing to the general public for the first time and the greenies have use it to stop advancements in every industry in the nation. That doesn’t even mention the cost of meeting all the requirements ESA imposes even before a shovel of dirt is turned on new construction; the Keystone XL pipeline is a perfect example of how flawed this law is. This issue is over a beetle.  This is insane.

At any rate, I hope to be able to keep this updated on a weekly basis, and as the season slows I will attempt to do this daily.

In the meanwhile, I invite everyone to get some historical background on this and some of the outrages ESA has caused. By the way...it turns out that the Northern Spotted Owl didn't really need those old growth forests and they were disappearing because another bigger and tougher owl called the barred owl, which was eating them.  In short....their presumed departure from the environment was "all natural".  The claim was that Nothern Spotted Owls needed a certain type of habitat in old growth forests or they would disappear.  The fact of the matter is that this was another greenie lie and it cost thousands of jobs. 

Please visit my posts: ESA Outrages, Part I - ESA Outrages, Part II and
ESA Outrages, Part III.  Enjoy!

Spotlight: The Endangered Species Act: What is the Endangered Species Act and how does it work?



The primary law protecting endangered species and critical habitats in the United States is the Endangered Species Act of 1973. It was passed by Congress on December 28, 1973 in recognition of wildlife and plant species' inherent "esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation and its people." In short, the goal of the ESA is to ensure the protection of endangered and threatened species…. Approximately 1,134 animals and plants in the United States are listed under the ESA. As of June 5, 2012, there were 1,077 endangered and 317 threatened species. The ESA also protects about 600 foreign species, in accordance with a 2010 amendment encouraging international cooperation with conservation standards established by the ESA.

Oregon timber firms help fight suit
The lawsuit filed by environmental groups alleges the logging would harm the habitat of the marbled murrelet in violation of the Endangered Species Act.State officials say they have a plan to protect the seabird. However, they have voluntarily ...

Timber companies join state to defend logging
Elliott, Tillamook and Clatsop state forests illegally harm the habitat of the threatened marbled murrelet, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The seabird lays its eggs on the large, mossy branches of mature and old-growth ...

Timber firms help state defend logging plan
Tillamook and Clatsop state forests illegally harm the habitat of the threatened marbled murrelet, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The logging industry firms have an interest in the case because they rely on timber sales from ...

Anglers,piping plovers compete for space
We're mandated to protect the birds under the Endangered Species Act." Closed-off bird areas between kilometer markers 18-23 will reopen by the end of the month, Hulslander said, but the exact date depends on when plover chicks hatch and then fledge, ...

Costa Rica's Great Green Macaw (Ara Ambiguous)
The birds — the great green macaw, the hyacinth macaw, the scarlet macaw and the military macaw — warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act, a Service analysis has found. The proposal to list the birds as endangered is now ...

Rare Macaw Species Advance Towards Protection
Rare Macaw Species Advance Towards Protection under the Endangered Species Act. Beautiful Birds Threatened by Pet Trade, Habitat Loss