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The Endangered Species Act had widespread support when President Richard Nixon signed it into law late in 1973.
1973年底，美国总统理查德·尼克松签署《濒危物种法》时，该法案得到了广泛的支持。
In the 50 years since, the effects of the legislation have been both successful and complex.
在此后的50年里，这项法案的效果既成功又复杂。
Most Americans celebrated the law that helped save animals such as the bald eagle and bison.
大多数美国人赞扬这项帮助拯救秃鹰和野牛等动物的法律。
But when the law stood in the way of economic progress, many questioned whether it was too strong.
但当这项法案阻碍经济发展时，许多人质疑它是否过于强大。
The act took effect around the same time as other laws designed to protect natural resources such as water, air and the wilderness.
该法案与其他旨在保护水、空气和荒野等自然资源的法律几乎同时生效。
In the 1960s and 1970s, no other country in the world had put such wide protections into place.
在20世纪60年代和70年代，世界上没有其他国家实施过如此广泛的保护措施。
Concerns came later when the law prevented projects such as a hydroelectric dam in Tennessee from moving forward.
后来，当这项法案阻止了田纳西州水电站大坝等项目的推进时，人们开始担心。
The concern? A small river fish no one had ever heard of.
担心什么？一种没人听说过的小河鱼。
That fish is called the snail darter.
这种鱼叫蜗牛鱼。
Plans to protect the fish held up progress on the Tellico Dam for more than two years.
保护这种鱼的计划使泰利库大坝的建设进度推迟了两年多。
Biologists eventually decided to catch the small fish and move it to other rivers.
生物学家最终决定捕捉这种小鱼，并将其转移到其他河流。
The fish population grew over time and the snail darters were removed from the endangered species list in 1984.
随着时间的推移，这种鱼的数量不断增加，1984年，蜗牛鱼被从濒危物种名单中删除。
About one year ago, the fish had fully recovered.
大约一年前，这种鱼完全恢复。
Jim Williams was the first so-called "fish guy" in the Office of Endangered Species.
吉姆·威廉姆斯是濒危物种办公室的第一个所谓的“鱼人”。
When his group listed the fish, he recalled, the decision made a lot of people upset.
他回忆说，当他的组织将这种鱼列入名单时，这个决定让很多人感到不安。
He said his director told him not to list the fish.
他说，他的主管当时告诉他不要把这种鱼列入名单。
But Williams said he planned to follow the law and make decisions based on facts, not on possible public reaction.
但威廉姆斯表示，他计划遵守法律，根据事实做出决定，而不是根据可能的公众反应。
The snail darter decision showed the U.S. government that the law was going to be difficult to manage.
把蜗牛鱼列入名单的决定向美国政府表明，这项法案会很难管理。
Some said the government should not try to save all species.
有些人表示，政府不应该试图拯救所有物种。
Others said all animals and plants should be safe from extinction.
其他人表示，所有的动植物都应该免于灭绝。
The debate continues today.
直到今天争论仍在继续。
Many more disputes over the protection of species came up over the next 45 years.
在接下来的45年里，出现了更多关于物种保护的争论。
In each case, employees at the Endangered Species Office made decisions that upset some people but ultimately saved the animals.
在每一个案例中，濒危物种办公室的员工做出的决定都让一些人感到不安，但最终拯救了动物。
In northern Minnesota in the 1980s, the gray wolf population had recovered from only around a few hundred to about 1,000.
20世纪80年代，在明尼苏达州北部，灰狼的数量从几百只左右恢复到了1000只左右。
The Endangered Species Act had helped save the gray wolf.
《濒危物种法》帮助拯救了灰狼。
With the population growing, people wanted permission to hunt the animals.
随着灰狼数量的增长，人们希望获得狩猎灰狼的许可。
The Fish and Wildlife Service sought to cooperate with the state of Minnesota and open the gray wolf to hunting.
美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局试图与明尼苏达州合作，开放狩猎灰狼。
The move required a regulation showing that a hunting season would help the wolves and was the only way to control their population.
这一举措需要一项规定，表明狩猎季节对灰狼有利，是控制它们数量的唯一方法。
Ron Nowak was a wolf expert in the Endangered Species Office at the time.
罗恩·诺瓦克当时是濒危物种办公室的狼专家。
The Fish and Wildlife Service told Nowak to write the regulation.
美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局让诺瓦克起草这项规定。
"And I said, 'It would be illegal,'" Nowak said.
诺瓦克说：“我说，‘这是违法的’”。
The Fish and Wildlife Service found someone else to write the regulation.
美国鱼类及野生动植物管理局找到了其他人来起草这项规定。
Conservation groups took legal action and called Nowak as a witness.
环保组织采取了法律行动，并传唤诺瓦克作为证人。
He traveled to Minnesota to tell the government that wolves should not be open to hunting.
他前往明尼苏达州告诉政府，不应该开放狩猎灰狼。
LaVerne Smith started working in the Endangered Species Office in 1978.
拉维恩·史密斯于1978年开始在濒危物种办公室工作。
Soon after came a major decision involving the California condor, the largest bird native to North America.
不久之后，一项有关加州秃鹰的重大决定出台了，加州秃鹰是北美本地最大的鸟类。
By 1982, only 23 California condors were left.
到1982年，加州秃鹰的数量只有23只。
Biologists were looking at whether the species could be saved.
生物学家当时正在研究是否可以拯救这个物种。
The office made a plan to move the remaining birds into a safe and closed area and breed them.
该办公室制定了一项计划，即将剩余的秃鹰转移到一个安全、封闭的区域，并进行繁殖。
The plan worked.
这个计划奏效了。
Today, there are more than 400 California condors.
如今，有400多只加州秃鹰。
They can even be seen flying over the Grand Canyon.
人们甚至可以看到它们在大峡谷上空飞翔。
Smith said, "the day I saw one sail over the Grand Canyon, I was like, 'Oh my God! That was all worth it.'"
史密斯说：“在我看到一只秃鹰飞过大峡谷的那天，我就想，‘哦，天哪！这一切都值得。’”
Later in her career, Smith led the effort to list the polar bear as endangered.
在她职业生涯的后期，史密斯领导了将北极熊列为濒危物种的项目。
It marked the first time an animal was listed as endangered because of climate change.
这标志着首次因气候变化而将一种动物列为濒危物种。
Marc Imlay began working at the Endangered Species Office in 1971, two years before the current Endangered Species Act was passed.
马克·伊姆利于1971年开始在濒危物种办公室工作，也就是现行的《濒危物种法》通过的前两年。
Imlay is an expert on mollusks – small animals including snails, mussels and slugs.
伊姆利是软体动物专家，软体动物包括蜗牛、贻贝和鼻涕虫等小动物。
He had concerns that hydroelectric dams were putting freshwater mussels in danger in states such as Missouri and Tennessee.
他担心水电站大坝会将密苏里州和田纳西州等州的淡水贻贝置于危险之中。
At one point, Imlay decided to make a phone call to a conservation group in Missouri to tell them that a planned dam would put the mussels in danger.
有一次，伊姆利决定给密苏里州的一个环保组织打电话，告诉他们计划中的大坝会将贻贝置于危险之中。
The call worked.
这一通电话奏效了。
He got locals to pay attention to the organism and the dam was stopped.
他让当地人关注到了这种生物，大坝被叫停了。
In time, his work prevented a number of dams from being built.
随着时间的推移，他的工作阻止了一些大坝的修建。
While some could argue that Imlay slowed economic progress, he said in other cases he found a way to help development move forward.
虽然有些人可能会辩称，伊姆利致使经济发展速度减缓了，但他说，在其他情况下，他找到了一种帮助发展向前推进的方法。
"Time and time again," he said, "you can work with a developer" to save high-quality land.
“一次又一次，”他说，“你可以与开发者合作”拯救高质量的土地。
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
