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38 REFLECTIONS ON THE ACT President Nixon, conservationists heralded it as a turning point in our relationship with the other living creatures with whom we share the earth. Motivated by the sobering recognition that "economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern for conservation" had driven numerous species to ex- tinctionand endangered many others, Congress boldly sought to stem the tide of extinctions depleting the diversity of life itself. Today, more than fifteen years later, how much of the act's promise has been realized? On the encouraging side, nearly every state has enacted its own endangered species legislation and established its own program paralleling and supplementing the federal program. Concern for endangered species has been integrated into the programs of most federal agencies, including the vitally important federal agencies that manage one-third of the nation's land. The Endangered Species Act has also stimu- lated major conservation initiatives by private organizations like The Nature Conservancy, which has used its unique land acquisition talents to acquire and protect habitats for many endangered species. The ultimate measure of success or failure of these efforts, however, is whether the species that are the objects of the act's concern face a more or less secure future. For some, prospects for survival are definitely brighter than they were fifteen years ago. The bald eagle, symbol of the nation, is making an encouraging comeback all across the country; the peregrine falcon, once com- pletely extirpated from the eastern United States, has been suc- cessfullyreintroduced there; the brown pelican in the Southeast and the American alligator throughout the South have fully recovered; even the whooping crane, reduced to only fifteen birds in 1941, has now been increased more than tenfold. If the number of recovered species seems few, it must be remembered that fifteen years is a very short time in which to expect dramatic results. During that period, however, the foun- dations for future recoveries have been laid. For many species, the likelihood of eventual recovery has increased because re- search done under -the Endangered Species Act has made it possible to understand better the causes that threaten their survival and to identify the actions needed to remedy these threats. For others, we may only have bought additional time. Additional-time is no small matter, however, for it may prove to be vital time in which to design more long-lasting solutions.