<P> The Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( ESA ; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq . ) is one of the few dozens of US environmental laws passed in the 1970s , and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ) . Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a `` consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation '' , the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28 , 1973 . The U.S. Supreme Court found that `` the plain intent of Congress in enacting '' the ESA `` was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction , whatever the cost . '' The Act is administered by two federal agencies , the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) and the Commerce Department 's National Marine Fisheries Service ( NMFS ) . </P>
<P> The Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( ESA ; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq . ) is one of the few dozens of US environmental laws passed in the 1970s , and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ) . Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a `` consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation '' , the ESA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28 , 1973 . The U.S. Supreme Court found that `` the plain intent of Congress in enacting '' the ESA `` was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction , whatever the cost . '' The Act is administered by two federal agencies , the United States Fish and Wildlife Service ( FWS ) and the Commerce Department 's National Marine Fisheries Service ( NMFS ) . </P>
what is the role of the endangered species act
what is the role of the endangered species act
to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a `` consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation ''
to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a `` consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation ''