98th ESA Annual Meeting (August 4 -- 9, 2013)

August 03 - 09, 2013

IGN 12

The Endangered Species Act Turns 40: Lessons Learned for Conservation of Threatened and Endangered Species in the United States

This Ignite session is inspired by the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973. The purpose of the session is to stimulate discussion and inform attendees about the ESA, its successes and shortcomings, and new strategies for using the act to prevent extinction. Speakers will: - Explain the basic legal tenets and ecological concepts set forth in the ESA; - Summarize the primary ecological conditions that threaten species with extinction; - Describe broad geographic patterns of biodiversity and threats to species in the United States; - Review the ESA’s effectiveness for recovering threatened and endangered species over the last 40 years; and - Discuss strategies for improving the act and its implementation. Talks in this session will cover a diverse set of topics, but each will be a pithy description of just a few key issues. And each talk will aim to provoke conversation during the second hour of the session, when the Ecological Society of America’s Public Affairs Office, Public Affairs Committee and Policy Section will host a mixer to encourage the audience and speakers to interact.