It was a “dream law” designed to save “charismatic megafauna,” as witty environmentalists first called it. And indeed who could idly stand by without supporting the Endangered Species Act in its great task of snatching the symbolic bald eagle or the mighty grizzly from the jaws of extinction?

Congress assigned responsibility for the 1973 ESA to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, both agencies capable of developing strong rules and staffed with professionals competent to fight off any business that might try to challenge their regulations.