In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) authored an op-ed in NJ Spotlight News shedding light on the critical state of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which just celebrated its 50^th anniversary days ago. In December, Booker introduced a resolution commemorating 50 years of the ESA, reaffirming the role this legislation has played in safeguarding global biodiversity. Booker is a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

NJ Spotlight News

NJ remains committed to protect wildlife and uphold the Endangered Species Act

By Cory Booker

When we see a majestic humpback whale tail-slapping near Cape May or a bald eagle soaring over the Cohansey River, we have a 50-year-old law to thank — an act of Congress that is one of the most successful conservation laws ever enacted by any country.

The Endangered Species Act, signed into law on Dec. 28, 1973, has protected more than 2,000 species at risk of extinction. This includes a range from plants like the whitebark pine to animals like the piping plover and the northern long-eared bat. It includes many New Jersey native species critical to our ecosystems.

Passed at a time of alarming species disappearance, the law has been a stunning success, saving 99% of the species listed. Bipartisan in its origins and in its support to this day, it points the way forward for us as we confront a historic biodiversity crisis that risks the collapse of ecosystems across the globe.

The Endangered Species Act showed Washington at its best, with legislators on both sides of the aisle joining forces to respond to an alarming loss of biodiversity, motivated by a desire to protect wildlife for future generations. The bill sailed through the House by a 355-4 vote and passed the Senate unanimously.

As he signed it into law, President Richard Nixon, a Republican, said, “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It … forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans which we hold in trust to countless future generations of our fellow citizens.”

A leader in conservation, New Jersey was ahead of the curve. Two weeks before the federal law was signed, we passed our own Endangered and Nongame Species Conservation Act, cementing our leadership in protecting wildlife that continues to this day.

Preserving wildlife in NJ 

Our conservation efforts have protected biodiversity in every corner of our state. In the 1970s, the New Jersey bald eagle population was down to one nesting pair. Bald eagle populations have recovered nationally so much the species was delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 2007, and in 2022, New Jersey’s bald eagle population had recovered to 250 nests.

In the past year, the Endangered Species Act has helped protect the red knot, a migratory shorebird that travels thousands of miles every spring and makes a critical stop in New Jersey. The red knot depends on horseshoe crab eggs as a food source, and in October, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission decided to forgo harvesting female horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay because of the red knot’s threatened status.

Beyond preserving wildlife, the Endangered Species Act has helped maintain healthy natural systems that also sustain our economic systems and provide us with clean air and water, food, medicines and other benefits. More than 4 in 5 Americans continue to support the legislation today.

Now, 50 years later, our world’s wildlife is again at a critical juncture. Scientists estimate that more than 1 in 6 species are threatened with extinction this century, and species are disappearing at a rate hundreds of times faster than natural rates, reaching levels last seen when dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago.

At a time when the Endangered Species Act is needed more than ever, this Congress has actively tried to undermine its goals with more than 50 legislative proposals. The Republican-led House has tried to block federal protections for species such as the gray wolves, lesser prairie-chickens and grizzly bears, and prevent federal agencies from taking action to finalize, implement or enforce proposed ESA rules. It has also proposed harmful cuts to already underfunded wildlife and public lands programs.

I am fighting to ensure that these harmful amendments and cuts do not end up passing, but we have to do more than play defense. We must continue to proactively protect the Endangered Species Act and ensure that scientists are the ones deciding which species to protect, not politicians making judgments on what’s valuable or convenient.

The Endangered Species Act has been pivotal to preserving diverse ecosystems and ensuring the survival of numerous species, and over the past five decades has proved its worth as one of the greatest success stories of the environmental movement. As we face a historic collapse in biodiversity, we must build on the incredible legacy of this law and redouble our efforts to preserve wild animals and plants and our native ecosystems that sustain them.

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