what was the purpose of the endangered species act
Endangered Species Act of 1973 The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. ยง 1531 et seq.) is one of the few dozens of US environmental laws passed in the 1970s, and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).[1] Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation", the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court found that "the plain intent of Congress in enacting" the ESA "was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost."[2] The Act is administered by two federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Soil and Water Conservation Act The Soil and Water Conservation Act (RCA) is a 1977 law (P.L. 95-192) that requires USDA to periodically prepare a national plan for soil and water conservation on private lands based on an inventory and appraisal of existing resource conditions and trends. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is the lead agency in this effort, and completed appraisals in the early 1980s and late 1980s; a third appraisal was initiated in the early 1990s, but not completed. Only one national plan was adopted by USDA, in 1982. Many of the activities envisioned when the RCA was enacted are being carried out, but it has not resulted in a single omnibus plan addressing conservation needs and priorities on private lands yet.