Section 7(a)(1) of the "New" Endangered Species Act: Rediscovering and Redefining the Untapped Power of Federal Agencies' Duty to Conserve Species

Abstract

This article probes the history, meaning, and potential applications of section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, which by its terms imposes a "duty to conserve" on all federal agencies. The article examines how agencies and courts have watered down this potentially forceful species conservation directive and suggests that, by linking it with the recovery planning function of section 4(f) of the Act, the duty to conserve could help us gain traction on species recovery.