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Walter V. Reid

Synopsis

Builds a convincing case that, while there is room for improving the Endangered Species Act, the long-term solution to the problems raised by the Act's implementation lies in preventing species from becoming endangered in the first place.

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The debate over the fate of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) may soon force a choice between two second-best options. The changes proposed by ESA's critics amount to nothing less than a decision to abandon the broadly supported goal of protecting the nation's natural heritage. But "business as usual" is not without its own problems. The current ESA has served the nation well by protecting species from extinction, but it was not designed to prevent species from becoming endangered, so the list of endangered species grows ever longer.

The best option -- one that conserves biodiversity without overburdening the ESA -- is not even on the table. In the WRI paper, The United States Needs a National Biodiversity Policy, Dr. Walt Reid builds a convincing case that, while there is room for improving the Endangered Species Act, the long-term solution to the problems raised by the Act's implementation lies in preventing species from becoming endangered in the first place. Just as our policy emphasis in the industrial sector has shifted from end-of-the-pipe regulation to "pollution prevention," the same shift is needed in resource management.

What are the key elements of a national biodiversity policy that could foster a shift from crisis management toward anticipatory planning?

• Make greater use of economic incentives to steer development pressures away from critical ecosystems.
• Involve local communities in planning and decision-making about the fate of their biological diversity.
• Adopt state and federal policies to protect critical natural ecosystems.
• Reform resource management policies that undermine the sustainable use of biological resources.
• Strengthen the Endangered Species Act along the lines suggested in the recent National Academy of Sciences study so that species receive protection before their populations fall to critically low levels.

Two of this report's recommendations -- expanding the use of Habitat Conservation Planning and undertaking a national biological survey -- became Interior Department priorities in 1993. But both of these cornerstones of a sound biodiversity policy are now under the budget ax.

With a little forethought -- we can meet our nation's economic and environmental goals while passing to the next generation an environment as rich in natural wealth as the one that we inherited.