The Endangered Species Act, designed to protect rare wildlife and plants, is up for congressional reauthorization. It requires that species be listed as endangered or threatened solely on the basis of five scientific considerations. It does not allow consideration of any economic factors. The Supreme Court has interpreted the act as mandating that efforts to save a covered species must be undertaken "whatever the cost."

Despite its strong wording and inflexible judicial interpretation, the Endangered Species Act has been remarkably ineffective in actually saving species. Since 1966, when the law took effect:

• 1,354 species have been listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the agencies that implement the act.

• Of these, only 19 species have ever been taken off the list - seven because they became extinct and eight because they were listed by error in the first place.

• The recovery of the remaining four delisted species is questionable and inaccurate counting or data errors may have caused the original listings.

• A 1990 General Accounting Office report found that more than 80 percent of all listed species were declining despite protection under the act.

In an effort to preserve popular support for the act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has cited "success stories" about the recovery of species still on the list, but there is strong evidence that their recovery is unrelated to the act.

Perhaps the most contentious aspect of the Endangered Species Act is its power to "take" private property through extensive restrictions on land where endangered species may exist. This transforms listed species into liabilities for property owners, many of whom now try to destroy an endangered specimen before it is discovered.

If Congress does not acknowledge the difficulties with the present act and amend it so that it actually preserves wildlife and habitat while protecting private property rights, popular support for endangered and threatened species is likely to erode.

Source: Thomas Lambert and Robert J. Smith, "The Endangered Species Act: Time for a Change," Policy Study No. 119, March 1994, Center for the Study of American Business, Washington University, Campus Box 1208, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, (314) 935-5630.

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