When Congress passed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973, it recognized that our rich natural heritage is of “esthetic, ecological, educational, recreational, and scientific value to our Nation and its people.”  It further expressed concern that many of our nation’s native plants and animals were in danger of becoming extinct.  The purpose of the ESA is to protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

The ESA makes it unlawful for a person to take a listed animal without a permit.  Take is defined as “to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect or attempt to engage in any such conduct.”  Through regulations, the term “harm” is defined as “an act which actually kills or injures wildlife.  Such an act may include significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering.”

Section 10 of the ESA provides relief to landowners including private citizens, corporations, Tribes, States, and counties who want to develop property inhabited by listed species.  Landowners can receive a permit to take such species incidental to otherwise legal activities, provided they have developed an approved habitat conservation plan (HCP).  HCPs include an assessment of the likely impacts on the species from the proposed action, the steps that the permit holder will take to minimize and mitigate the impacts, and the funding available to carry out the steps.  HCPs may benefit not only landowners but also species by securing and managing important habitat.  Bastrop County has such an HCP, the Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan.

Learn more about the Endangered Species Act here.