Endangered Species Act turns 50 and Montana has been the battleground

<p>The Endangered Species Act turns 50 this December. Often called “the pit-bull of environmental statutes,” the ESA has given federal protection to more than 2,000 animals and plants.</p> <p>It has also drawn critics who claim it takes away property rights and hurts economic development. </p> <p>After half a century of recovery efforts, only a few hundred species have got delisted. On the other hand, the whole world faces a biodiversity crisis, with more than 44,000 species threatened with extinction. And the ESA has been the international model law for how to save what the world has left. </p> <p>Some of the ESA’s biggest struggles have happened in Montana, including fights over gray wolves, grizzly bears, bull trout and sage grouse. As the law reaches its 50-year anniversary, a group of reporters scanned the state to see how it’s working and what its future holds.</p> <p>With me today is Rob Chaney, leader of the project, to give us a primer on 50 years of the law and what readers can expect from the reporting,</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>