In response to litigation over the listing status of the polar bear, the government is arguing that only species facing an imminent danger of extinction can be listed as endangered. This narrow definition is contrary to language of the Endangered Species Act, inconsistent with the current list of threatened and endangered species, and will limit protections for species known to be at risk of extinction.
The Endangered Species Act defines an endangered species as any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range, and a threatened species as any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Under this definition, any species that is in danger of extinction properly qualifies as endangered. Many species currently considered endangered do not arguably face an imminent risk of extinction. For example, the critically imperiled yet long-lived North Atlantic right whale is properly classified as endangered, even though actual extinction under current trends is likely many decades away. Requiring extinction to be imminent prior to listing a species like the North Atlantic right whale as endangered will result in many such species being denied endangered status until they are already committed to extinction, a result clearly at odds with the intent and purpose of the Endangered Species Act. Please consider signing onto a letter to Secretary of Interior Salazar, requesting that he not change the definition of endangered under the Endangered Species Act to require species to face an imminent risk of extinction before qualifying as endangered. To find further information and sign the letter, please visit http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=8097 For more information on this issue, please see http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/endangered_species_act/listing_species_under_the_endangered_species_act/pdfs/Fact_Sheet_Definition_of_Endangered.pdf Thank you for your consideration. Noah Greenwald Endangered Species Program Director Center for Biological Diversity
