New interpretation of Endangered Species Act limits protections

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a new interpretation of the Endangered Species Act that limits its reach, meaning the law's protections will only be applied if a species is at risk of extinction in a vital portion of its range where its loss would put the entire species at risk of extinction. This threatens to reduce the Endangered Species Act to a mechanism that merely preserves representatives of a species, rather than protecting or repopulating areas where endangered species once lived. This new policy will result in a world for our children even more diminished than the one we live in.

Authors: John A. Vucetich and Michael Paul Nelson

Originally published on The New York Times on Aug 20, 2014