From the Editor

The Endangered Species Act will turn 40 soon, and it’s experiencing something of a midlife crisis.

When he signed the ESA into law in 1973, President Nixon praised the act for protecting “an irreplaceable part of our national heritage – threatened wildlife.” At the time, the bald eagle was down to fewer than 500 breeding pairs. Other beloved species – the whooping crane, the gray whale, the peregrine falcon – were also on the brink of extinction. The new law provided legal protections for those animals as well as the places they lived. In many cases, the act has worked as intended. Dozens of species have recovered. …more

The Last Stand

Twenty years ago, an extraordinary effort by environmentalists saved the northern spotted owl – or did it?

by Eric Wagner

Cry, Wolf

How a Campaign of Fear and Intimidation Led to the Gray Wolf’s Removal from the Endangered Species List.

by James William Gibson

A House Divided

Louisianans, One Year After the Spill

by Karen Dalton-Beninato, Portraits by Stacy Revere