Endangered+Species+Act

The Endangered Species Act of 1973
 Amendments made in 1982, 1985, 1988. (ESA). President Nixon signed the bill.

 http://www.floridaholidayreview.com/i/bald_eagle.jpg

**Legislation: **  THIS LAW IS NATION WIDE! It is a law that is created by the federal government. It is enforced in every state and only affects our country.

**What the Law does and why it is needed: **  Designed to protect endangered species from becoming extinct because the species is either low in numbers, threatened by changes in the environment, or threatened by deforestation which leads to lacking food and water (habitat). It was needed because humans were making wrong and bad decisions on how they treated the habitat and the animals living in it. Also, the act protects the critical habitats. A critical habitat is the land, air, and water that supports the growth and survival of an endangered species. A habitat is the primary threat to most endangered species. Endangered species are not just animals, there are different plant types too that are endangered! Besides preventing extinction, it is also a goal to recover and maintain populations by removing or lessing threats to their survival.

**How has it impacted: **  It has impacted our ecosystem in many ways. Most of the animals becoming extinct were high on the food chain. If they were to be gone forever, our ecosystem would be unbalanced. Now the species have increased and the ecosystem is better. Some endangered species are as follows:  
 * Bald Eagle (increased from 416 to 9,789 pairs between 1963 and 2006), Whooping Crane (increased from 54 to 513 birds between 1967 and 2006), Kirtland's Warbler (increased from 210 to 1,415 pairs between 1971 and 2005), Peregrine Falcon (increased from 324 to 1,700 pairs between 1975 and 2000), Gray Wolf (populations increased dramatically), Gray Whale (increased from 13,095 to 26,635 whales between 1968 and 1998), and the Grizzly Bear (increased from about 224 to over 500 bears in the Yellowstone area between 1975 and 2005) 

**Enforced by: **  The Endangered Species Act is enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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The Bald Eagle and Black Footed Farret have amazing stories of survival. They were thought to go extinct many times, but they just wouldn't give up. The government took the bald eagle off the "threatened list" due to their population increasing. As well as the black footed farret. These are just two of many animals that have success and survival stories.
 * SUCCESS STORIES! **<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">