Letter to the editor

Act preserves important natural resources
The recent op-ed by Adrian Moore (“My View: The danger of the Endangered Species Act”) included many unsupported assertions about vague threats to farmers but not a word about the escalating threats sea-level rise and development pose to Florida's unique species and the landscapes and habitats all Floridians depend on, including farmers.

Instead, Moore resorts to fear mongering peppered with factual distortions and misrepresentations about our nation's strongest wildlife protection law to inaccurately suggest that protecting our irreplaceable environment will somehow penalize Florida landowners.

The unsupported claim that taking steps to protect our most imperiled species will lead to “drastic land-use restrictions” simply has no basis in reality.

What is true is that taking steps to protect species will help protect the long-term health of the precious watersheds needed by all Floridians - including the farmers Moore is attempting to turn against the act.

The Endangered Species Act has a remarkable record of saving species and their habitats. To date the act has prevented the extinction of 99% of the plants and animals it protects and put hundreds on the road to recovery, including alligators, the Florida panther, brown pelicans, the wood stork and the manatee, just to mention a few Florida natives.

In the process of saving those species from extinction the act has helped us preserve and recover the health of our state's special landscapes that have become increasingly squeezed between unchecked development.

The need to protect these species and habitats across Florida has never been more critical. We owe it to ourselves and future Floridians to protect our exceptional biodiversity and ecosystems.

Jaclyn Lopez
Florida director, Center for Biological Diversity