CRS Issue Statement on Endangered Species

Pervaze A. Sheikh, Coordinator
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy

The 111th Congress might face specific resource conflicts involving threatened and endangered species, including managing water supplies and ecosystem restoration in San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers Delta in California (i.e., Bay- Delta), managing water supplies in the Klamath Basin, and addressing ESA protections and contractual water rights in some basins. Addressing all of these concerns comprehensively without compromising the overall goals of the ESA may not be possible, especially given the strong commitments of those for and against this law. Thus, the 111th Congress is more likely to address these issues individually, independent of each other. 

The ESA has been among the most contentious environmental laws because of its strict substantive provisions. Increasing numbers of animal and plant species face possible extinction. These species are valued for ecological, educational, scientific, recreational, spiritual, aesthetic, and (in some cases) economic reasons. Some contend that because the loss of species could have predictable and unpredictable social and economic effects, all species should be saved. Others disagree, and hold that the cost to society to save species is concrete and large, while the benefits are vague. Protection of endangered and threatened species—and the law that protects them, the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA, 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1543)—are controversial, in part, because dwindling species are often indicators of competition for scarce resources.


Date of Report: January 15, 2010
Number of Pages: 3
Order Number: IS40274
Price: $7.95

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