Looking at the Endangered Species Act after 50 Years

Looking at the Endangered Species Act after 50 Years

回顾《濒危物种法》50年的历程

【听力音频】

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　　By Dan Friedell

　　27 December 2023

　　The Endangered Species Act had widespread support when President Richard Nixon signed it into law late in 1973. In the 50 years since, the effects of the legislation have been both successful and complex.

　　Most Americans celebrated the law that helped save animals such as the bald eagle and bison. But when the law stood in the way of economic progress, many questioned whether it was too strong.

　　The act took effect around the same time as other laws designed to protect natural resources such as water, air and the wilderness. In the 1960s and 1970s, no other country in the world had put such wide protections into place.

　　Concerns came later when the law prevented projects such as a hydroelectric dam in Tennessee from moving forward. The concern? A small river fish no one had ever heard of.

　　That fish is called the snail darter. Plans to protect the fish held up progress on the Tellico Dam for more than two years. Biologists eventually decided to catch the small fish and move it to other rivers.

　　The fish population grew over time and the snail darters were removed from the endangered species list in 1984. About one year ago, the fish had fully recovered.

　　Jim Williams was the first so-called "fish guy" in the Office of Endangered Species. When his group listed the fish, he recalled, the decision made a lot of people upset.

　　He said his director told him not to list the fish. But Williams said he planned to follow the law and make decisions based on facts, not on possible public reaction.

　　The snail darter decision showed the U.S. government that the law was going to be difficult to manage. Some said the government should not try to save all species. Others said all animals and plants should be safe from extinction. The debate continues today.

　　Many more disputes over the protection of species came up over the next 45 years. In each case, employees at the Endangered Species Office made decisions that upset some people but ultimately saved the animals.

　　Gray wolves

　　In northern Minnesota in the 1980s, the gray wolf population had recovered from only around a few hundred to about 1,000. The Endangered Species Act had helped save the gray wolf.

　　With the population growing, people wanted permission to hunt the animals. The Fish and Wildlife Service sought to cooperate with the state of Minnesota and open the gray wolf to hunting.

　　The move required a regulation showing that a hunting season would help the wolves and was the only way to control their population.

　　Ron Nowak was a wolf expert in the Endangered Species Office at the time. The Fish and Wildlife Service told Nowak to write the regulation. "And I said, ‘It would be illegal,'" Nowak said.

　　The Fish and Wildlife Service found someone else to write the regulation. Conservation groups took legal action and called Nowak as a witness. He traveled to Minnesota to tell the government that wolves should not be open to hunting.

　　California condor

　　LaVerne Smith started working in the Endangered Species Office in 1978. Soon after came a major decision involving the California condor, the largest bird native to North America. By 1982, only 23 California condors were left. Biologists were looking at whether the species could be saved.

　　The office made a plan to move the remaining birds into a safe and closed area and breed them.

　　The plan worked. Today, there are more than 400 California condors. They can even be seen flying over the Grand Canyon.

　　Smith said, "the day I saw one sail over the Grand Canyon, I was like, ‘Oh my God! That was all worth it.'"

　　Later in her career, Smith led the effort to list the polar bear as endangered. It marked the first time an animal was listed as endangered because of climate change.

　　Freshwater mussels

　　Marc Imlay began working at the Endangered Species Office in 1971, two years before the current Endangered Species Act was passed.

　　Imlay is an expert on mollusks – small animals including snails, mussels and slugs. He had concerns that hydroelectric dams were putting freshwater mussels in danger in states such as Missouri and Tennessee.

　　At one point, Imlay decided to make a phone call to a conservation group in Missouri to tell them that a planned dam would put the mussels in danger.

　　The call worked. He got locals to pay attention to the organism and the dam was stopped. In time, his work prevented a number of dams from being built.

　　While some could argue that Imlay slowed economic progress, he said in other cases he found a way to help development move forward.

　　"Time and time again," he said, "you can work with a developer" to save high-quality land.

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press.

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　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　2023年12月27日

　　当理查德·尼克松总统在1973年底签署《濒危物种法》时，该法案得到了广泛的支持。在过去的50年里，这项立法的影响既成功又复杂。

　　大多数美国人欢庆这项法律帮助拯救了像秃鹰和野牛这样的动物。但是，当这项法律阻碍了经济进步时，许多人质疑它是否过于强硬。

　　这项法案与其他旨在保护水、空气和野生资源的法律大致在同一时期生效。在1960年代和1970年代，世界上没有其他国家实施过如此广泛的保护措施。

　　后来，当这项法律阻止了如田纳西州的一座水电站等项目的推进时，人们开始产生了担忧。担忧的是什么呢？一个没人听说过的小河鱼。

　　这种鱼叫做蜗牛鳢。保护这种鱼的计划使得Tellico大坝的进展被延误了两年多。生物学家最终决定捕捉这种小鱼并将其移至其他河流。

　　随着时间的推移，鱼类种群增长，蜗牛鳢在1984年被从濒危物种名单中移除。大约一年前，这种鱼已完全恢复。

　　吉姆·威廉姆斯是濒危物种办公室的第一位所谓的"鱼类专家"。当他的团队将这种鱼列入名单时，他回忆说，这个决定让很多人感到不安。

　　他说他的主管告诉他不要列出这种鱼。但威廉姆斯说，他打算遵循法律，根据事实而不是可能的公众反应来做决定。

　　蜗牛鳢的决定让美国政府意识到这项法律将难以管理。有些人说，政府不应试图拯救所有物种。其他人则认为所有的动植物都应该免于灭绝。这场辩论至今仍在继续。

　　在接下来的45年里，关于物种保护的争议越来越多。在每一次案例中，濒危物种办公室的员工都做出了一些让人不安但最终拯救了动物的决定。

　　灰狼

　　在1980年代的北明尼苏达州，灰狼的数量从只有几百只恢复到了大约1000只。《濒危物种法》帮助拯救了灰狼。

　　随着种群数量的增长，人们希望获得狩猎这些动物的许可。鱼类和野生动物服务部门试图与明尼苏达州合作，开放灰狼的狩猎。

　　这一举动需要一个规定，表明狩猎季节将有助于狼群的生存，并且是控制其数量的唯一方式。

　　当时，罗恩·诺瓦克是濒危物种办公室的狼类专家。鱼类和野生动物服务部门告诉诺瓦克去写这个规定。"我说，'这将是非法的，'"诺瓦克说。

　　鱼类和野生动物服务部门找到了其他人来写这个规定。保护团体采取了法律行动，并召唤诺瓦克作为证人。他前往明尼苏达州告诉政府，狼不应该被开放狩猎。

　　加利福尼亚秃鹫

　　拉弗恩·史密斯于1978年开始在濒危物种办公室工作。不久之后，涉及到北美最大的鸟类——加利福尼亚秃鹫的重大决定。到1982年，只剩下23只加利福尼亚秃鹫。生物学家正在研究这个物种是否可以被拯救。

　　办公室制定了一个计划，将剩余的鸟类移至一个安全且封闭的区域进行繁殖。

　　这个计划奏效了。如今，加利福尼亚秃鹫的数量超过400只。它们甚至可以被看到在大峡谷上空飞翔。

　　史密斯说，“我看到一只秃鹫在大峡谷上空飞翔的那一天，我就像，‘哦，我的上帝！这一切都是值得的。’”

　　在她的职业生涯后期，史密斯领导了将北极熊列为濒危物种的努力。这标志着第一次因为气候变化而将动物列为濒危物种。

　　淡水贻贝

　　马克·伊姆雷在1971年开始在濒危物种办公室工作，这是现行濒危物种法通过的两年前。

　　伊姆雷是软体动物的专家——包括蜗牛、贻贝和蛞蝓在内的小动物。他担心水电大坝正在使密苏里州和田纳西州的淡水贻贝面临危险。

　　有一次，伊姆雷决定给密苏里州的一个保护团体打电话，告诉他们一个计划中的大坝会使贻贝处于危险之中。

　　这个电话起到了作用。他让当地人开始关注这个生物，大坝的建设被停止了。随着时间的推移，他的工作阻止了许多大坝的建设。

　　虽然有人可能会争论伊姆雷阻碍了经济进步，但他说在其他情况下，他找到了一种方法来帮助发展向前推进。

　　他说，“一次又一次，你可以和开发商合作”来保存高质量的土地。

　　我是丹·弗里德尔。

　　丹·弗里德尔根据美联社的报道为英语学习改编了这个故事。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　species—n. 一群相似并能繁殖后代的动物或植物

　　manage –v. 监督或运营

　　regulation –n. 法律或规则

　　conservation –adj. 与保护自然有关的

　　breed –v. 将两种动物放在一起，目的是让它们交配并繁殖后代