The National Marine Fisheries Service administers the law for marine species. The Endangered Species Act is due for reauthorization in 1992. The Endangered Species Act states that the Secretary of Interior shall determine species as endangered or threatened based on manmade factors affecting their continued existence. Candidate species are not protected under the Endangered Species Act. Scientist estimate that 3 more species become extinct every day, and that number will rise dramatically by the year 2000.
All organisms store valuable genetic makeup that once lost, is gone forever.
For example, scientists recently found an extremely rare form of corn in South America. If this wild corn can be hybridized with domestic corn it may relieve farmers from having to replant corn every spring. Scientist continue finding new plants for medicinal purposes. For example, in the 1960's there was a dramatic decrease in the number of bald eagles. Eagles accumulated the byproducts from the fish they ate that had accumulated the pesticide from the food they ate.