A Tale of Two Cranes: Lessons Learned from 50 Years of the Endangered Species Act

It’s been 50 years since the United States attempted a conservation revolution with the passing of the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Now, fifty years later, the Fish and Wildlife Service finds itself at a crossroads: some recovery efforts are succeeding, but too many are either failing or stuck in neutral, even after decades of work.

Take, for example, the story of two cranes, the whoopingcrane of southeastern Texas and the red-crowned crane of northern Japan. Both were pushed to the bri...