About this book
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides a comprehensive approach to the complex problem of species extinction. With chapters written by experienced ESA practitioners from a variety of professional backgrounds, this is an authoritative yet practical guide to the ESA, its most critical sections, the twists and turns of its implementation, and the cutting-edge issues facing the protection of endangered wildlife and its habitat.
Even among the other landmark environmental laws passed in the heyday of American environmental legislation, the ESA stands out as perhaps the most stringent, most comprehensive, and most controversial. Its comprehensive approach has a significant impact on the management and use of public and private lands and waters. As the ESA approaches its 50th anniversary, it remains a lightning rod for litigation, and the source of ongoing legal debate and competing interpretations.
Now in its third edition, Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy and Perspectives is an authoritative guide to the history of the ESA, the Act's most critical sections, the twists and turns of its implementation, and the cutting-edge issues facing the protection of endangered wildlife and its habitat. This updated edition serves as a guide for both the novice and the more experienced practitioner to the ins and outs of the ESA. It begins with the building blocks of the ESA: the processes for listing species and designating critical habitat. Because the goal of the ESA is to bring listed species to a point where they no longer need the Act's protection, the mechanism to guide this effort for each listed species is the recovery plan.
Subsequent chapters address key aspects of the application of the ESA: the duty to consult and avoid jeopardy, and the Act's take prohibitions and its exemptions. Topics addressed include:
- The listing process and interpretation of the listing requirements
- Critical habitat designation
- Recovery plans
- Interagency consultation and conservation duties under Section 7
- The Section 9 prohibition
- Habitat conservation plans
- Landowner incentives
- Citizen suits
- Protections for listed plants
- International trade restrictions and other international aspects of ESA implementation
- State Endangered Species Acts
- Captive wildlife
- Navigating the science-policy interface
- Resource implications on ESA implementation
- Constitutional takings and the ESA, and more
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Biography
Donald C. Baur is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Perkins Coie LLP. He previously served as General Counsel of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and as an attorney advisor in the Office of the Solicitor for the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he served in the Office's Honors Program. He graduated with the highest honours from Trinity College and from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Mr. Baur is on the summer faculty of the Vermont Law School, where he teaches ocean and coastal law. He also taught federal wildlife law at the Golden Gate School of Law, and serves as Co-Chair of the ALI-ABA Environmental Institute Conference on Species Protection and the Law and as an instructor in the Environmental Law Institute's Environmental Boot Camp. He is co-editor of and contributor to the ABA's Ocean and Coastal Law and Policy (2008, with Tim Eichenberg and Michael Sutton) and co-editor of the first edition of the ABA's Endangered Species Act: Law, Policy, and Perspectives (2002, with Wm. Robert Irvin). Mr. Baur serves on the Book Publishing Board of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources and has written more than 20 articles published in law reviews and related journals.
Ya-Wei (Jake) Li is the Director for Biodiversity at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in Washington, D.C., where he specializes in wildlife conservation law, policy, and science. This work covers many aspects of the Endangered Species Act, including section 7 consultations, section 10 permit-ting, recovery planning, and funding. He works with a wide variety of partners, including industry, universities, federal agencies, congressional offices, and other conservation groups. Before joining the Center, Jake held various positions at Defenders of Wildlife, including as Vice President of Endangered Species Conservation and the Director of the Center for Conservation Innovation. Before joining Defenders, Jake practised environmental law at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he worked on regulatory counselling and litigation relating to endangered species, air and water contaminants, chemical regulation, and environmental assessments. Jake holds a B.S. from Drexel University and a J.D. from Cornell University Law School. At Cornell, Jake also completed graduate courses in conservation biology and herpetology. He has co-authored over twelve peer-reviewed studies on the performance of the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife laws.
