I hear the call of chicka-dee-dee from the Carolina chickadee and the chirp of northern cardinals outside my window. These birds have opened my eyes to the nature and diversity around me, but they have no idea what may be in store for their endangered counterparts.
Congress has proposed bills like House Resolution 1897 that will weaken the ability of the Endangered Species Act to protect wildlife. This is detrimental to the future of other species protected by the act, including Pennsylvania’s own piping plover shorebirds designated as endangered, measuring about 6 inches long and weighing as little as a golf ball.
The act has successfully brought back populations of bald eagles and peregrine falcons to Pennsylvania, and is making progress helping Lake Erie’s piping plovers recover from the brink of extinction. Congress is considering ripping the grizzly bear and the gray wolf off the Endangered Species list, putting politics over conservation science, which will set a dangerous precedent for Pennsylvania’s species.
Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman should fight to maintain the integrity of the Endangered Species Act, so as to protect the natural habitat of Pennsylvania that we all know and love.
Victoria Streeton
Shadyside