Rebuilding the Ark
New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform
Published on 16. August 2011
Book
Hardback
260 pages
978-0-8447-4391-2 (ISBN)
Description
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) may be the most powerful environmental law in the United States. Enacted in 1973, the ESA prohibits any actions that may cause harm to endangered plants and animals or the ecosystems upon which they depend. But although more than 1,200 species are protected under the Act, most remain in peril. The ESA may have saved some species from the brink of extinction, but there is little evidence it is working as intended to recover endangered and threatened species. In some cases, the Act's extensive regulatory requirements may actually discourage conservation efforts.
In Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform, Jonathan H. Adler leads a group of environmental law experts in evaluating the ESA's successes and failures and exploring multiple avenues for reform. The authors examine methods for incentivizing conservation on private land and water, for revising and standardizing the ESA's regulatory framework, and for increasing transparency, accountability, and public participation in the Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation agencies. Rebuilding the Ark also considers how the Act should be reformed to address the threat of climate change, and how ESA reform in the United States may affect species conservation overseas.
The Endangered Species Act has not been altered for over twenty-five years. Debates over ESA reform are often contentious and hampered by partisan infighting and pressure from interest groups. But reform is crucial if we are to achieve the ESA's ambitious goals and conserve the world's endangered plants and animals. Rebuilding the Ark is a valuable resource for policymakers, conservationists, business owners, and concerned citizens alike.
In Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform, Jonathan H. Adler leads a group of environmental law experts in evaluating the ESA's successes and failures and exploring multiple avenues for reform. The authors examine methods for incentivizing conservation on private land and water, for revising and standardizing the ESA's regulatory framework, and for increasing transparency, accountability, and public participation in the Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation agencies. Rebuilding the Ark also considers how the Act should be reformed to address the threat of climate change, and how ESA reform in the United States may affect species conservation overseas.
The Endangered Species Act has not been altered for over twenty-five years. Debates over ESA reform are often contentious and hampered by partisan infighting and pressure from interest groups. But reform is crucial if we are to achieve the ESA's ambitious goals and conserve the world's endangered plants and animals. Rebuilding the Ark is a valuable resource for policymakers, conservationists, business owners, and concerned citizens alike.
Reviews / Votes
Rebuilding the Ark joins the decades-long Endangered Species Act dialogue with a fresh look at longstanding issues pertaining to landowner incentives, costs, and effectiveness. Its authors reveal the ESA and its implementation as dynamic, with its evolution moving toward strengthening incentives for private stewardship. Yet tough issues persist, and this collection of essays hits most of the big ones-climate change, water issues, pesticides, the sheer scope of the perils species face, and the delicate interface of science and the law. The book offers us a serious look at critical challenges of species protection and how the ESA both advances and limits achieving that goal. -- Lynn Scarlett, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior In Rebuilding the Ark, Jonathan H. Adler and an array of distinguished legal authorities and conservation practitioners argue that Endangered Species Act reform must 'recognize the fundamental importance of protecting whole habitats and ecosystems rather than single species.' Indeed, this is the challenge before us. A workable plan for a twenty-first century rare species ark for any nation, or any living system on the planet, must at least identify, support, and show how to pay for essential 'construction' materials. Instead of the 'gopher wood' used in Noah's ark, our twenty-first century ark requires landowner commitment, resource user awareness, sound and objective data shared among significant parties, supportive and encouraging technical service providers, meaningful incentives, and actual willingness to share burdens of retaining species in habitats. Rebuilding the Ark illustrates how the ESA has been generally ineffectively deployed, how its maladroit application can leave many landowners feeling aggrieved and bitter, and, despite lofty goals based on obviously dwindling numbers of some species, why mandates the Act imposes deserve improvement or replacement. I recommend this book to the active conservationist and serious policymaker for its principled, practical approaches that could help stop the loss of many U.S. species and threatened species across the globe. -- Brent M. Haglund, president, Sand County FoundationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington DC
United States
Dimensions
Height: 241 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
508 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8447-4391-2 (9780844743912)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
AEI Press
€68.49
Available for download
Persons
Jonathan H. Adler is a professor of law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Content
Rebuilding The Ark: Introduction
Jonathan H. Adler
Chapter 1: The Leaky Ark: The Failure of Endangered Species Regulation On Private Land
Jonathan H. Adler
Chapter 2: Reforming Section 10 and the Habitat Conservation Program
David A. Dana
Chapter 3: Improving The Esa's Performance on Private Land
R. Neal Wilkins
Chapter 4: Permits, Property, And Planningin The 21st Century: Habitat As Survival And Beyond
Jamison E. Colburn
Chapter 5: Mark to Ecosystem Service Market: RepricingConservation Easements to Protect Ecosystems
Jonathan Remy Nash
Chapter 6: Protecting Species Through the Protection of Water Rights
James L. Huffman
Chapter 7: Dumb Queues and Not-So-Bright Lines
Brian F. Mannix
Chapter 8: Pit Bulls Can't Fly: Adapting the Endangered Species Act to the Reality of Climate Change
J.B. Rhul
Chapter 9: Protecting Endangered Species at Home and Abroad
Michael De Alessi
Index
About the Authors
Jonathan H. Adler
Chapter 1: The Leaky Ark: The Failure of Endangered Species Regulation On Private Land
Jonathan H. Adler
Chapter 2: Reforming Section 10 and the Habitat Conservation Program
David A. Dana
Chapter 3: Improving The Esa's Performance on Private Land
R. Neal Wilkins
Chapter 4: Permits, Property, And Planningin The 21st Century: Habitat As Survival And Beyond
Jamison E. Colburn
Chapter 5: Mark to Ecosystem Service Market: RepricingConservation Easements to Protect Ecosystems
Jonathan Remy Nash
Chapter 6: Protecting Species Through the Protection of Water Rights
James L. Huffman
Chapter 7: Dumb Queues and Not-So-Bright Lines
Brian F. Mannix
Chapter 8: Pit Bulls Can't Fly: Adapting the Endangered Species Act to the Reality of Climate Change
J.B. Rhul
Chapter 9: Protecting Endangered Species at Home and Abroad
Michael De Alessi
Index
About the Authors