--- title: Endangered Species Act Has Economic Benefits — And Costs description: At the heart of the debate over the law is a question of economics canonical: https://time.com/5347260/endangered-species-act-reform/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-25T19:13:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:35:32.747Z article:section: Politics og:title: How the Endangered Species Act Helps the Economy og:description: Critics often focus on its economic costs, but it has benefits too. og:url: https://time.com/5347260/endangered-species-act-reform/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43b1c2a72bf9a26d/6989362497cdffdcec6b5d27/endangered-species-sage-grouse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: endangered species sage grouse og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the Endangered Species Act Helps the Economy twitter:description: Critics often focus on its economic costs, but it has benefits too. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43b1c2a72bf9a26d/6989362497cdffdcec6b5d27/endangered-species-sage-grouse.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Endangered Species Act Is Criticized for Its Costs. But It Generates More than $1 Trillion a Year > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=43fe1f9b-ced7-4451-abb4-fbda30f29b06&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 25, 2018 7:13 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 25, 2018 7:13 PM UTC Critics of the [Endangered Species Act](http://time.com/5345913/endangered-species-act-history/) often couch their concerns in terms of the damage that it does to specific industries. Speaking at a hearing on the law last year, Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming went through a laundry list of economic interests he said were being harmed by the 1973 law. “States, counties, wildlife managers, home builders, construction companies, farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders are all making it clear that the Endangered Species Act is not working today,” he said. But as the Trump Administration prepares a set of regulatory changes that could dramatically undermine the law, some supporters are highlighting the economic benefits of protecting endangered species. They note that the law doesn’t just protect individual species, it also protects the ecosystems that support that species. That work sustaining natural lands and the species that call them home helps ensure everything from a hospitable climate to clean drinking water. “Yeah, there are costs: it might slow down certain industries and help certain industries,” says Jason Shogren, an economics professor at the University of Wyoming. “We have to think about all the non-market benefits that exist for knowing these species exist, for knowing the web of life is intact, for knowing that these ecosystems aren’t going to unravel.” Economists often describe this broad set of [benefits](http://time.com/4671860/endangered-species-act-reform-climate-change/) as “ecosystem services,” and their value to the U.S. economy is enormous. Think of bees that pollinate more than 90 commercial crops in the U.S. like fruits, nuts and vegetables or birds that eat mosquitoes that would otherwise spread disease to humans. A 2011 [study](https://www.fws.gov/refuges/news/pdfs/TheEconomicValueofOutdoorRecreation[1].pdf) prepared for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a government-affiliated conservation group, tabulated the total value of ecosystem services at about $1.6 trillion annually in the U.S. The value totaled more than $32 billion in National Wildlife Refuges protected under the Endangered Species Act. Preserving wildlife also offers a more direct benefit by supporting local tourism and improving residential land values nearby nature preserves. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation study found that land under the purview of the Army Corps of Engineers generated $34 billion in sales and supported hundreds of thousands of jobs. The economic costs are real too, but they tend to hit specific industries rather the country at-large like many of the benefits. The law has complicated efforts by the oil and gas industry to develop millions of acres of land rich in fossil fuels. The logging industry has cited the law as a barrier to its growth. And farmers who own their land cannot develop it in many cases as they continue to face tough market conditions for other reasons. Changes from Republicans in Washington would prioritize these industry concerns. In 118 pages of technical documents, the Department of Interior [outlined](http://time.com/5343840/donald-trump-endangered-species-act/) a slew of changes to how the agency implements the law. The rule change would tighten standards for protecting new land, potentially allow regulators to ignore the effects of climate change on a species and, perhaps most significantly, allow for cost considerations when previously decisions were made on science alone. Those regulatory changes join a slew of proposals under consideration in Congress where top Republicans have sought to undo parts of the 35-year-old law for years. Among other things, the proposed changes to existing law include several measures to reject endangered species status for specific animals like the sage grouse, a chicken-like bird that roams much of the west. Tinkering with the Endangered Species Act isn’t a political winner with polls showing most Americans broadly supporting the law, along with other environmental protections. But Democrats argue that their Republican counterparts have bet that reforming the popular law are ok with that so long as they reward the interest groups that helped put the current Republicans in office in the first place. “The Trump Administration doesn’t seem to know any other way to handle the environment than as an obstacle to industry profits,” said Arizona Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, in a statement. “If a single company can make a single dollar from the destruction or displacement of an endangered species, it’s full speed ahead.” ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. 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