Endangered Species Act
Overview
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted by Congress in 1973 to provide federal protection to species of wildlife that are in danger of becoming extinct. Although the ESA is considered the most powerful piece of legislation dedicated to conserving wildlife, it is not the first piece of legislation with that purpose. In 1966, Congress passed the Endangered Species Preservation Act which authorized the Secretary of the Interior to compile a list of endangered species and provided the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) with $15 million per year to buy habitat for the listed species. In 1969, Congress passed the Endangered Species Conservation Act which allowed the Secretary of Interior to list foreign species and prohibited the importation of products made from such species. The ESA ultimately replaced the 1969 Act, providing endangered species with more protection than any prior legislation. Read the full overview.
Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.
Major Statutes
Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544
Regulations
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants 50 C.F.R. part 17
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) 50 C.F.R. part 23
General Endangered and Threatened Marine Species 50 C.F.R. part 222
Threatened Marine and Anadromous Species 50 C.F.R. part 223
Endangered Marine and Anadromous Species 50 C.F.R. part 224
Designated Critical Habitat 50 C.F.R. part 226
Interagency Cooperation – Endangered Species Act of 1973, As Amended 50 C.F.R. part 402
Listing Endangered and Threatened Species and Designating Critical Habitat 50 C.F.R. part 424
Endangered Species Exemption Process 50 C.F.R. subchapter C parts 450-453
Case Law
Case Law Index for Endangered Species Act
Center Research Publications
The National Agricultural Law Center’s Endangered Species Act Manual: A Practical Guide to the ESA for Agricultural Producers (Rollins, 2023)
Environmental Law: Federal Laws That Affect Agriculture — PowerPoint Presentation (Springsteen, 2009)
Biodiversity and Law: The Culture of Agriculture and the Nature of Nature Conservation (Harbison, 2004)
Biodiversity and the Law of Nature Conservation in Great Britain (Harbison, 2004)
Ag & Food Law Update blog topics:
Congressional Research Service Reports
Reports – published and made available by CRS beginning in 2017
Subjects – published and made available by NALC until 2018
Agricultural Law Bibliography
Introduction | Keyword Search | Browse Categories
Legal publications on the Endangered Species Act:
Reference Resources
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
BLM Special Status Species
BLM Threatened and Endangered Species Program Partners
Proactive Conservation and Recovery
State Threatened and Endangered Species Program Information
Threatened and Endangered Species
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
Biological Opinions & Evaluations Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultations
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Endangered Species Act Conditions of Approval (February 2024)
Economic Research Service (ERS)
Agricultural Resources and Environmental Indicators, Chapter 3.3 Wildlife Resources Conservation (Hellerstein et al., 2019)
Report: The Economics of Agricultural and Wildlife Smuggling (Ferrier, 2009)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
About the Endangered Species Protection Program
Fact Sheets on Twelve Endangered Species
Endangered Species Litigation and Associated Pesticide Limitations
Endangered Species Act Consultation
Protecting Endangered Species from Pesticides
Endangered Species: Information For Pesticide Users
EPA’s Workplan and Progress Toward Better Protections for Endangered Species
Implementing EPA’s Workplan to Protect Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides
Strategy to Protect Endangered Species from Insecticides
Endangered Species Protection Bulletins
Summary of the Endangered Species Act
Assessing Pesticides under the Endangered Species Act
Ecological Risk Assessment Process under the Endangered Species Act
Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS)
Delisted Species
Endangered Species
Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act 50th Anniversary
Endangered Species Act Implementation
Endangered Species Act Petitions Received by FWS
Endangered Species Act Regulation Revisions
Endangered Species Library
Environmental Conservation Online System
ESA Section 7 Consultation
Foreign Species
Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook
Habitat Conservation Plans
Habitat Conservation Plans Under the Endangered Species Act
Listed Animals
Listed Plants
Listing and Classification
Listing Species as Threatened or Endangered
National and Regional Contacts
Population Status
Recovery
Recovery Champions
Recovery Plans
Safe Harbor Agreements for Private Landowners
Section 4(d) Rules: Frequently Asked Questions
Species
Species Proposed for Listing
National Agricultural Library (NAL)
Publications: Conservation Effects Assessment Project
Natural Resources, Conservation, and Environment
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration – Fisheries (NOAA)
Consultations
Critical Habitat
Designating Experimental Populations Under the Endangered Species Act: Section 10(j)
Endangered Species Act 5-Year Reviews
Endangered Species Act Guidance, Policies, and Regulations
Endangered Species Conservation
Foreign Species
Glossary: Endangered Species Act
Law and Policies: Endangered Species Act
Listing Species Under the Endangered Species Act
National ESA Critical Habitat Mapper
Permits for the Incidental Taking of Endangered and Threatened Species
Petitions Awaiting 90-Day Findings
Proposed Species Under the Endangered Species Act
Protective Regulations for Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act: Section 4(d)
Species Recovery Grants to States
Species Recovery Grants to Tribes
Recovery of Endangered and Threatened Species
Recovery of Species Under the Endangered Species Act
Species Directory: ESA Threatened & Endangered
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Conservation Basics: Animals
Conservation Basics: Plants
Healthy Forests Reserve Program (HFRP)
Healthy Forests Reserve Program: Fact Sheet
Healthy Forests Reserve Program: How to Apply and Benefits
Insects & Pollinators
Livestock
Monarch ButterfliesPlant Materials Program
Wildlife
Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW)
Congressional Resources
House Committee on Natural Resources
Modernizing the Endangered Species Act (Senate Republican Policy Committee)
Reports on the Endangered Species Act (Government Accountability Office)
U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Other Federal Resources
Army Natural Resources Conservation: Endangered Species (Department of Defense Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Network and Information Exchange)
At-Risk Species (National Park Service)
Columbia River Basin Federal Caucus (Salmon Recovery)
Endangered & Threatened Species (Federal Register)
Endangered Species (Housing of Urban Development Exchange)
Endangered Species Committee (U.S. Department of the Interior)
Endangered Species Program: Indian Affairs (U.S. Department of the Interior)
Gateway to U.S. Government Scientific Information (Science.gov)
Laws and Regulations to Protect Endangered Plants (Forest Service)
Northwest Forest Plan (Forest Service)
Threatened, Endangered or Rare Species Detection (U.S. Geological Survey)
What are the differences between endangered, threatened, imperiled, and at-risk species? (U.S. Geological Survey)
International Resources
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)
Convention on Biological Diversity
Convention on Biological Diversity: Text of the Convention
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
European Red List of Threatened Species (European Commission)
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species
CITES: List of Parties to the Convention
Species+
Species At Risk (Government of Canada)
Species At Risk: The Act, The Accord and the Funding Programs (Government of Canada)
Species At Risk Public Registry (Government of Canada)
Species Protection and Conservation (European Environment Agency)
The Birds Directive: Species Protection (European Commission)
The CITES Species
What is CITES?
Additional Resources
American Farm Bureau Federation — The Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Law and Policy (Nossaman LLP)
Illinois College of Law Library: Endangered and Threatened Species
Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium
Property and Environment Research Center
Publications
Endangered Species Act Evolving? A Look at Significant Recent and Upcoming Changed to ESA Administration (Ibrahim & Barho, April 2026)
Habitat Protection Matters for Species Conservation (The Regulatory Review, Schuette et al., January 2026)
Federal Court Vacates and Remands Listing of Lesser Prairie Chicken Under Endangered Species Act (Texas Agriculture Law Blog, Tiffany Lashmet, August 2025)
FIFRA, ESA, and Pesticide Consultation: Understanding and Addressing the Complexities (CAST Issue Paper, April 2024)
What You Need to Know About Pesticides and the Endangered Species Act (Washington State University, May 2024)
Understanding Endangered Species Act Section 7 Regulation Changes (SWCA, Amanda Glen, April 2024)
What Landowners Need to Know as We Reflect on 50 Years of the Endangered Species Act (Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Holmes et al., Nov. 2023)
Building Better Species: Assisted Evolution, Genetic Engineering, and the Endangered Species Act (Cornell Law Review, John A. Erwin, September 2023)
Endangered Species Act: Critical Habitat Designation After Weyerhaeuser (Harvard Environmental Law Review, Eric Macomber, May 2023)
Complying With the Endangered Species Act (Moore et al., February 2023)
Climate Attribution Science and The Endangered Species Act (Yale Journal on Regulation, Jessica A. Wentz, June 2022)
Collaborative Governance Under the Endangered Species Act: An Empirical Analysis of Protective Regulations (Yale Journal on Regulation, Fischman et al., June 2021)
“Significant Portion of its Range”: Statutory Interpretation of the ESA (Quint Doan, February 2020)
Extinction and the U.S. Endangered Species Act (National Library of Medicine, Greenwald et al., April 2019)
Protecting Evolutionary Potential: Can the Endangered Species Act Save Species Before They Exist? (New York University Law Review, Natalie Jacewicz, June 2019)
Unanimous Supreme Court: “Critical Habitat” Under Endangered Species Act Must Be Habitat (Texas Agricultural Law Blog, Tiffany Lashmet, December 2018)
The Original Role of the States in the Endangered Species Act (Idaho Law Review, John Copeland Nagle, April 2018)
Texas Landowner’s Guide to the Endangered Species Act (Texas Agricultural Law Blog, Tiffany Lashmet, January 2018)
Tenth Circuit Holds Endangered Species Act Applies Purely to Intrastate Animals (Texas Agricultural Law Blog, Tiffany Lashmet, April 2017)
Choosing Your Ground on the Endangered Species Act: How Do the Ninth, Tenth, and District of Columbia Circuit Courts of Appeal Evaluate Water Management Decisions Made by Federal Water Agencies? (Pace Environmental Law Review, Michael Kinsey, September 2016)
Species recovery in the United States: Increasing the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act (Forest Service, Evans et al., 2016)
The Endangered Species Act and Its Role in Land Use Planning: Lessons Learned from the Pacific Northwest (Seattle Journal of Environmental Law, Erin S. Laschever, May 2011)
The Endangered Species Act: Static Law Meets Dynamic World (Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, Holly Doremus, January 2010)