Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform

Abstract:     
The Endangered Species Act is arguably the most powerful and controversial of America’s environmental laws. Despite its legal strength, there are increasing concerns about its effectiveness as a conservation tool. In this edited volume, contributors evaluate the successes and failure of the Endangered Species Act and explore multiple avenues for reform. The authors examine methods for incentivizing conservation on private land and water, for revising and standardizing the ESA’s regulatory framework, and for increasing transparency, accountability, and public participation in the Fish and Wildlife Service and other conservation agencies. Rebuilding the Ark also considers how the Act should be reformed to address the threat of climate change, and how ESA reform in the United States may affect species conservation overseas.

Keywords: Endangered Species Act, species conservation, climate change, global warming, law and economics, environmental regulation, transparency

JEL Classification: K32, Q20

Accepted Paper Series