Species and population declines persisted during this time despite the existence of several federal laws, including The Lacey Act, the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. A heavier-hitting piece of legislation was needed, and thus the Endangered Species Preservation Act came to be in October of 1966. Aimed at conserving, protecting, and restoring select species of native fish and wildlife, the Act and its purpose soon outgrew itself and, by 1969, was replaced with the Endangered Species Conservation Act.

But President Richard Nixon wasn’t satisfied. He called for even more comprehensive legislation, signing into law one of the nation’s, and world’s, most significant and strongest environmental laws.

Today’s America’s National Parks, the United States Endangered Species Act.

Written by Dr. Charlotte Hacker

Edited by Peter Xiong

Narrated by Abigail Trabue

Hosted by Jason Epperson