The State of the States: An Overview of State Biodiversity Programs

• Author: Susan George
• Pages: 51-59

Chapter 5

The State of the States: An Overview

of State Biodiversity Programs

by Susan George

I. Introduction

Across the United States, ecosystems and the wildlife species they sustain

have declined dramatically since Europeans settled North America. From the

destruction of ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest to the loss of long-leaf

pine forests and savannas in the Southeast, no state is unaffected. Without an

immediate and determined response, the states risk losing what remains of

these ecosystems, which maintain the natural processes that make for fertile

soils, breathable air,and clean water, and which are much loved by outdoor en-

thusiasts, hunters, fishers, and tourists. States also risk irreparably damaging

the natural environment that is the rightful inheritance of future generations of

Americans who will make from it the fabric of their lives.

Most popular and scholarly attention has been focused on international ef-

forts to conserve biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity1

or the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES),2or on federal efforts under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)3or

other federal wildlife laws. However, historically states have taken action to

protect wildlife and other elements of biodiversity before the federal govern-

ment. Today, states and private institutions are again taking the lead to initi-

ate programs to conserve biodiversity broader than endangered species pro-

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1. Convention on Biological Diversity of the United Nations Conference on the

Environment and Development, opened for signature June 5, 1992, U.N.

Doc. DPI/1307, reprinted in 31 I.L.M. 818 (1992), available at http://www.

biodiv.org/convention/articles.asp (last visited May 25, 2005). For discussion

of the convention, see supra Chapters 3 and 4.

2. United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora, Mar. 3, 1973, 27 U.S.T. 1087, 993 U.N.T.S. 243, avail-

able at http://www.cites.org (last visited May 25, 2005).

3. 16 U.S.C. §§1531-1544, ELR Stat. ESA §§2-18.