PERC’s Jonathan Wood spoke with Cat Daily Podcast host Caleb Brown to discuss the Endangered Species Act’s achievements and failures in protecting and recovering species. For decades the Endangered Species Act has done a good job of preventing listed species from going extinct; however, the ESA has failed to fully recover many of those species. Changes to the law to help align private landowners incentives with these recovery goals may be the answer.
Cato Daily Podcast: How the Endangered Species Act Works (and Doesn’t)
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Jonathan Wood
- Vice President of Law & Policy
Jonathan Wood is vice president of law and policy at PERC, leading PERC’s Conservation Law and Policy Center.
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PERC Reports Magazine, Summer 2026
A special issue exploring American conservation history as the nation turns 250.
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Thomas Jefferson: The Lost Founding Father of American Conservation
Two years before he authored the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson set out on the lifelong project of conserving Virginia’s Natural Bridge. Michaelle Browers has described the effort as “perhaps the first major act of nature preservation in the new republic.” The man who would be Governor of Virginia and President of the United StatesContinue reading "Cato Daily Podcast: How the Endangered Species Act Works (and Doesn’t)"
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How the Eagle Came Back
As we celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, it is heartening that America’s national symbol, the bald eagle, is no longer imperiled. Although once at risk of extinction throughout much of its historical range, this majestic species rebounded in the late 20th century, and populations are now in good health. At the time of the nation’sContinue reading "Cato Daily Podcast: How the Endangered Species Act Works (and Doesn’t)"
