In 1973, the U.S. Congress approved what I consider one of the most important actions to helping preserve the wide diversity of plant and animal life here.

Richard Nixon was the president then and here is part of his response after the Endangered Species Act was approved: “Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed.”

The president didn’t include plant life in that statement, so remember it is not just animals that have received some protections. This one fact will probably say it all about the importance of the act. Since it was enacted, 99% percent of the animals on the endangered species list are still on this Earth today. The act currently protects 1,662 species, animals and plants.

Keep in mind there were many obstacles and opponents to some of the things protected. Mining operations, energy exploration, ranchers, farmers and land developers were not always positively affected. I think this opened the eyes of many who realized we need to keep a balance.

Let’s hope that for the generations to follow us here in the U.S. and on this Earth that conservationists and politicians always keep this in mind.

Let’s not forget how we eliminated possibly the most populous bird on the planet, the passenger pigeon. Flocks of those birds blackened the skies. There were no laws to control the killing of them, and since they were so numerous, how could they disappear? Lady’s fashionable hats almost caused the demise of egret species. DDT, and similar chemicals, quickly controlled mosquito-borne diseases, but nearly wiped out a number of birds. Many forward-thinking individuals and ecologists drew attention to our past destructive actions, and luckily, birds like the majestic bald eagle, helped spur that effort.

The brown pelican, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, California condor and gray wolf are examples of successes after the act was implemented. Brown pelicans disappeared from many Gulf states where they once thrived. By 1970, the entire Eastern and Midwestern populations of the falcon were gone, and our nation’s symbol, the bald eagle, in Pennsylvania for example, only nested at one location. Today, the bald eagle and peregrine are no longer on the Endangered Species list.

Whooping cranes, once reduced to only 17 in the wild, started receiving special attention. They wintered in only one location, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, and had to “weather” the migration back to Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada. Today, with no hunting, protections of some of their migration resting areas and raising some in captivity, the population is up to a more stable 650 birds.

Our largest flying bird, the California condor, had its population reduced to 22 birds in the wild. With careful reductions in some pesticides and poisons, along with protecting their habitats, they have slowly rebounded to 347. I’ll discuss the success of the bald eagle in a future column, but now you and I can expect to see them almost anywhere in the Times News region. In the first 20 days of this month, I have already seen at least one on 11 different days.

We still have work to do, though. The piping plover and prairie chicken are walking on thin ice. It appears that our need to sunbathe at the Jersey or Maryland shore, or spending a week at beachside condos has resulted in almost no undisturbed beaches for piping plovers to nest. They are on the endangered list, but hopefully we’ll see a slow resurgence.

Congrats to our past congressional leaders, and we hope our current and new leaders will find that happy medium to save those species teetering today.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: What state has the most endangered bird species? A. California; B. Florida; C. New Jersey; D. Hawaii.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The American kestrel, our smallest falcon, likes the same type of habitat and winter prey as the barn owl, and its populations are dropping.

Email Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com