Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades
ABSTRACT Conservation professionals expect increased attempts to weaken the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the second Trump administration. As such, it is important to understand Americans’ level of support for the ESA. Prior research indicates that support for the ESA remained consistently...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Conservation Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13111 |
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| _version_ | 1849433229199671296 |
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| author | John A. Vucetich Jeremy T. Bruskotter Robyn Wilson L. Mark Elbroch Adam Feltz Thomas Offer‐Westort |
| author_facet | John A. Vucetich Jeremy T. Bruskotter Robyn Wilson L. Mark Elbroch Adam Feltz Thomas Offer‐Westort |
| author_sort | John A. Vucetich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Conservation professionals expect increased attempts to weaken the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the second Trump administration. As such, it is important to understand Americans’ level of support for the ESA. Prior research indicates that support for the ESA remained consistently strong across four studies conducted over a two‐decade period, 1996–2015. The research presented here extends those observations to six studies conducted over a three‐decade period, 1996–2025. We find that support of the ESA over that period has remained consistently high, at about 84%, and opposition has remained consistently low, at about 12%. We also report on other trends and patterns in support for the ESA, highlighting high and growing support for the ESA among politically conservative people and the absence of any rural–urban divide in support for the ESA. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-788ee7a56cd3468fb3e9c2950f240fdf |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1755-263X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-788ee7a56cd3468fb3e9c2950f240fdf2025-08-20T03:27:08ZengWileyConservation Letters1755-263X2025-05-01183n/an/a10.1111/conl.13111Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three DecadesJohn A. Vucetich0Jeremy T. Bruskotter1Robyn Wilson2L. Mark Elbroch3Adam Feltz4Thomas Offer‐Westort5College of Forest Resources & Environmental Science Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan USASchool of Environment and Natural Resources The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USASchool of Environment and Natural Resources The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA3174 Lost Mountain Rd. Sequim Washington USADepartment of Psychology University of Oklahoma Norman Oklahoma USACollege of Forest Resources & Environmental Science Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan USAABSTRACT Conservation professionals expect increased attempts to weaken the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) during the second Trump administration. As such, it is important to understand Americans’ level of support for the ESA. Prior research indicates that support for the ESA remained consistently strong across four studies conducted over a two‐decade period, 1996–2015. The research presented here extends those observations to six studies conducted over a three‐decade period, 1996–2025. We find that support of the ESA over that period has remained consistently high, at about 84%, and opposition has remained consistently low, at about 12%. We also report on other trends and patterns in support for the ESA, highlighting high and growing support for the ESA among politically conservative people and the absence of any rural–urban divide in support for the ESA.https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13111attitudesconservation‐reliant speciesconservation triageEndangered Species Actinterest groupspolitical corruption |
| spellingShingle | John A. Vucetich Jeremy T. Bruskotter Robyn Wilson L. Mark Elbroch Adam Feltz Thomas Offer‐Westort Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades Conservation Letters attitudes conservation‐reliant species conservation triage Endangered Species Act interest groups political corruption |
| title | Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades |
| title_full | Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades |
| title_fullStr | Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades |
| title_full_unstemmed | Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades |
| title_short | Support for the US Endangered Species Act Is High and Steady Over the Past Three Decades |
| title_sort | support for the us endangered species act is high and steady over the past three decades |
| topic | attitudes conservation‐reliant species conservation triage Endangered Species Act interest groups political corruption |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13111 |
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