When the Endangered Species Act passed in , it was a bipartisan home run. The Act established protections for plants and animals on the endangered and threatened species lists. And across the aisle, everyone seemed to agree that it would be bad for a bunch of species to go extinct. When the Act went to a vote, not a single senator voted against it.
Flash forward just over 50 years, and the story could not be more different today. Communities across the nation are fighting over the ESA, and a whole legal specialty has sprung up around how to use it and how to fight it.
The series is hosted by Nick Mott. But before that, I had a conversation with Nick about his new series and the controversial law at its center. Hi, Nick. So, you host a podcast called The Wide Open. Its first season is about the Endangered Species Act of , which gave federal protection to plants and animals listed as either threatened or endangered. And I just want to start from the beginning. What made you want to do a story about the Endangered Species Act specifically?
Like, there are lots of different stories you can cover about the environment. What got you interested in this one? But after I went to college, I moved out west to do conservation work—so things like building trails, cutting down non-native trees to restore habitat for sage grouse, which is a controversial species when it comes to the Endangered Species Act.
And, you know, flash forward many years, I became a journalist. I moved to Montana. And when I moved here, I was on the grizzly bear beat. This is a state. And, you know, I saw these emotions pile up and these divides form in the areas I live.
