Unready and Ill-Equipped
Minnesota scores an F on its ability to manage endangered species in an analysis based on funding and protective laws.
According to the report, put together by the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund:
“Not a single state has a law in place that is as protective for imperiled wildlife and plants as the federal Endangered Species Act. More troublingly, only three states currently provide a reasonably high level of funding to ensure the conservation and recovery of these species. As a result, transferring management to states would put hundreds of threatened and endangered species at far greater risk of extinction.
Other key findings:
- Thirty-four states received an overall grade of either a D or an F, including Wyoming, West Virginia and Alabama, the states that have most aggressively sought to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
- Only five states protect habitat for threatened and endangered species to a similar degree to the Act.
- Only seven states require that state agencies consult in advance with the state wildlife agencies to ensure that state activities do not harm threatened and endangered species.
- Twenty-nine states do not have the authority to protect the full spectrum of plants and animals covered by the federal Endangered Species Act”
Read the report in its entirety, here.
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