By Eco-Rep Jon DelaBruere ’15

image from USFWS

For my environmental policy class I recently attended a conference at ECHO for the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act here in Burlington, VT.  Through a number of different panels, we heard about and discussed Vermont’s endangered species and how they are recovering, but a changing climate could put them in jeopardy. I was shocked to know that in a small state like Vermont we have thirty-two state endangered animals and sixty-five state endangered plants. Out of the animals that are endangered, five of them are bats. We have such a diverse population of plants and animals in the state thanks to the hard work of many people, policies, and acts.

During the second panel Glenn Smith, who works for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the Northeast Region, discussed federal law and the practical issues related to protecting the habitat of threatened and endangered species. I asked the question of how do you get the state and federal levels to align so you can accomplish what you set out to do? and the answer that I got was that they try to be on the same page. Chris Kilian of the Conservation Law Foundation critiqued the Threatened and Endangered Species Law and said that if both state and federal parties work together that we can overcome the challenge of habitat protection.

Click here for more information on the Endangered Species Act.