Ten years ago, after just a dozen years on the Endangered Species List, the island fox was delisted.

It was the swiftest recovery of a terrestrial mammal in the history of the Endangered Species Act.

I never tire of sharing their miracle story with visitors to the Channel Islands.

How they nearly went extinct in the 1990s, victims of opportunistic golden eagle predation triggered by the absence of bald eagles.

How bald eagles disappeared after DDT discharged into the Pacific Ocean poisoned fish.

How eagles and foxes were rescued from the brink by a coordinated effort involving golden eagle removal, bald eagle reintroduction, captive breeding of foxes, and ongoing habitat restoration.

The Endangered Species Act has enjoyed 99% success rate in recovering listed species. The process is long and arduous: the average recovery time of listed species is over 30 years.

Now, crowdsourcing tools such as Merlin (birds), iNaturalist (plants and animals) and Happywhale (marine animals) may aid this recovery time. AI can also help fill in the knowledge gaps by mining data from various sources.

One of my favorite conservationists, author Terry Tempest Williams, writes in Erosion:

“The great consequence of the ESA over time is that it ensures that we as a species will not be alone. We will remain part of a living, breathing, thriving community of vibrant being with feathers, fins, and fur, roots, petals, and spines, trunks, branches and leaves, and promises that creatures that walk with four legs or scurry on six, or crawl with eight, will move alongside upright homo sapiens, our humanity walking side by side with our humility.”

California is increasingly “walking side by side with our humility.” We are resolved to building bridges between humanity and other species, which ultimately benefits ourselves as well.

One literal example is the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a wildlife bridge spanning the 10 lanes of U.S. 101 in Agoura Hills.

When it opens on Dec. 2, it will connect three ecosystems and improve the genetic diversity of threatened mountain lions.

Species protection and habitat protection are two sides of the same coin.

In a bold effort to protect biodiversity and build climate resilience, California has set its own mandate to conserve 30% of its lands and coastal waters by 2030.

The California Natural Resources Agency tracks progress via the CA Nature Database. Local efforts include establishing and managing marine protected areas and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.

Many Santa Barbara County cities, plus the county itself, have recently posted resolutions and statements supporting biodiversity and sustainability principles. While not legally binding, they are first steps which can lead to protections with teeth.

The U.S. federal administration and oil companies are galloping in the opposite direction. They are intent on opening more habitat to oil and gas leases, fragmenting land, threatening endangered species, and destroying biodiversity.

Most alarmingly, the feds are now implementing a sneak attack on California’s Coastal Management Program: the framework that has protected our coastline for fifty years. Sable Offshore Corp is angling to seize state lands through eminent domain.

Simultaneously, Jack Fleming reports for the L.A. Times that, “the Trump administration finalized a rollback of the Endangered Species Act on Friday [July 10], paving the way for drilling, mining and other human development across protected wildlife habitats.”

Under the revised rule, destroying habitats is no longer illegal, according to Fleming.
We are not powerless. Calls, emails, and in-person appearances can be effective between voting times.

Among many actions you can choose is attending or even signing up to speak at NOAA public meetings Aug. 10-12 in Santa Monica.

You can act to make sure California retains the power to oversee offshore oil production, pipelines, spaceport infrastructure, desalination, and undersea cables.

You can support California’s continued right to manage our own coast, for the posterity for all species including ourselves.

I am humbled and uplifted by the efforts being made by selfless individuals and groups for humanity and the earth.

As Terry Tempest Williams writes, “We are one with the land, not apart from it. We need not lose hope — we only need to locate where it dwells.”