Our #WorstQuoteoftheWeek goes to U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who recently shepherded five bills out of the Natural Resources Committee he chairs that would dismantle the Endangered Species Act piece by piece.
His take: “It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species….”
Actually, Senator, the ESA has consistently been used to rehabilitate threatened and endangered species. Here’s the facts about ESA:
- It has prevented the extinction for 99 percent of species under its protection since its enactment in 1973 through 2013.
- More than 100 species throughout the United States on the list have shown a 90 percent recovery rate.
- It has allowed the designation of millions of acres of critical habitat, which is crucial to species’ survival.
- The majority of Americans want to protect and strengthen the act according to polls.
Friends of Animals has worked to place these and many other endangered animals under the act’s protection.
Four Populations of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
Check out which other animals ESA has saved from the brink of extinction in this rundown from The Center for Biological Diversity.