Critical habitat protection should be included as well as agency consultation and endangered species impact assessment. Penalties for violations should be significant enough to serve as an effective deterrent. The federal Endangered Species Act encourages states to adopt laws and regulations governing threatened and endangered species. Most states have laws protecting threatened and endangered species within their borders. These laws vary widely, however, from mere statements of support for protection of threatened and endangered species to statutes that mirror the federal act provisions for critical habitat designation, recovery plans and agency consultation.
Most states rely heavily on the federal act for enforcement and funding.
Overall, the status of state endangered species acts is extremely weak. California is the only state with an act as comprehensive as the federal act. On the opposite end of the spectrum, seven states have no laws whatsoever dealing with endangered species. State laws generally fall far short of the protection required or offered by the federal act. None of these laws require programs for managing and protecting endangered species.