Environmental group sues feds over Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is the single greatest tool in protecting wildlife from extinction and it has always been up to the federal government for enforcement. Recently, the feds decided to give the state of Florida the duties of enforcement and management of the act and that's got environmental groups up in arms.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Conservancy of southwest Florida is in the works to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency for violating its own rules by giving the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission the power to control the management of the states' endangered species.

The Endangered Species Act is powerful because it can stop all development from businesses and corporations if it may harm an endangered species. No matter if it's a mine or billion dollar skyscraper, plans can be scraped if the construction destroys the habitat of an endangered frog. Needless to day, corporations and stockholders could care less about that frog and would gladly pave over its habitat.

It was enacted in 1972 and has been touted as the savior of several species. One aspect of the act involves working with state and local governments to enact their own conservation programs for threatened and endangered species, but the approval of permits and exemptions has always been in the hands of the federal government.

The federal government has always been the one to enforce and provide exemptions to businesses, but that often required expensive plans on how the business would not harm the current environment. The environmental groups worry that putting the decisions in the hands of the state will give the powerful companies more influence in the decision-making process.

They assert that federal agencies are less likely to be influenced by the politics of a situation and more willing to listen to scientists over income generating companies. The groups fear transitioning to a state leadership would leave the endangered animals at risk. Florida has a diverse ecosystem and has a large number of endangered species.

There has been no reaction to the suite from the state of Florida or the federal government.

Photo courtesy of sunsentinel.com