Hybridizing Law: A Policy for Hybridization Under the Endangered Species Act [Abstract]

• Date: 01 August 2018

48 ELR 10740 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 8-2018

HONORABLE MENTION

Hybridizing Law: A Policy

for Hybridization Under the

Endangered Species Act [Abstract]

by John A. Erwin

John A. Erwin is a Teaching Fellow at the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona.

For centuries, hybridization was a poorly under-

stood process thought to be a threat to endangered

species. With the advent of genomic technolo-

gies, those views are starting to change; hybridiza-

tion is now recognized as vital for the formation and

continued persistence of many species. However, our

current system of protection under the Endangered

Species Act (ESA) fails to take many of the modern

nuances of evolutionary biology into consideration.

Despite calls for an explicit “hybrid policy” since the

early 1990s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and

National Marine Fisheries Service have instead chosen

to apply a case-by-case approach with no guidance or

overarching policy. With the new technologies, many

species we are currently protecting could technically

be unsuitable for protection based on a rigid interpre-

tation of the ESA. A dened hybrid policy must be

adopted, taking into consideration the twin aims of

protecting genetic lineages and protecting ecosystems.

is abstract is adapted from John A. Erwin, Hybridizing Law: A

Policy for Hybridization Under the Endangered Species Act, 47 ELR

10615 (July 2017).

Copyright © 2018 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.