Congressional Reaction to TVA v. Hill: The 1978 Amendments to the Endangered Species Act

The first comprehensive legislation for the protection of endangered species was the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1966. It provided for "a program for the conservation, protection, restoration, and propagation of selected species of native fish and wildlife ... that are threatened with extinction."' In 1969, Congress expanded the Act in several important respects; however, it became apparent, as stated in 1972 by President Nixon, that the existing legislation "simply [did] not provide the kind of management tools needed to act early enough to save a vanishing species."'