The Endangered Species Act is one of the US’s strongest laws to prevent extinction. Passed in 1973 it is now marking its 50th anniversary. It plays a critical role in protecting more than 2,000 species of plants and animals including many, like the Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear and Cook Inlet beluga in Alaska. Hear from Nicole Whittington-Evans, our Alaska Program Director, on why it’s so important to fully fund and implement it!
Video Transcript:
In Alaska there are many endangered species, and two that we focus on primarily are the southern Beaufort Sea Polar Bear population and also the Cook Inlet Beluga population.
It’s a wonderful experience to be able to leave my office and go to our local small boat harbor in Anchorage and watch belugas there.
They’re beautiful to look at, and when you see them, it feels like something magical is happening in front of you.
So you need to travel to see polar bears if you’re not living in communities in the Arctic.
And when you do, you know that you are seeing a species that is not one that is seen by many people.
And to be able to watch it as it moves through the landscape is just a gift.
And it’s one that we need to continue to have for future generations I’d say that every species is connected to every other species and we as humans are connected to them all as well.
And if we lose one species, we don’t have an understanding fully of what those repercussions would be in the future if the apex predators are not able to sustain themselves – our ecosystems are failing and that is something that will impact the globe.
It will impact us. It will impact our food sources.
Without the Endangered Species Act these populations and species would just kind of go under the radar and would continue to fail.
Without the Endangered Species Act these populations and species would just kind of go under the radar and would continue to fail.
The Endangered Species Act deserves to be fully funded and fully implemented.
The ESA is absolutely one of the strongest tools we have to recover these species.
