“Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act to prevent extinction—not to document it after the damage has already been done,” Fitzpatrick said in the announcement. “And so that is what kind of destroys me about this rescission, is it's not only something that's gonna harm endangered species, but also humans and human communities as well.” The weasel cousin was placed on the endangered species list in 1967 and is the only ferret native to the Americas. In 1973, Congress implemented the Endangered Species Act to provide protections for endangered plants and animals in order to allow those populations to recover. “The service did not rescind the harm definition because it thinks it's bad policy.