Biodiversity
Main articles: Fauna of the United States and Flora of the United States
A bald eagle
The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782.[198]
The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing a large amount of endemic species: about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and more than 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.[199] The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 bird species, 311 reptile species, and 295 amphibian species,[200] as well as about 91,000 insect species.[201]
There are 63 national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas, which are managed by the National Park Service.[202] Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country’s land area,[203] mostly in the western states.[204] Most of this land is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching, and about .86% is used for military purposes.[205][206]
Environmental issues include debates on oil and nuclear energy, dealing with air and water pollution, the economic costs of protecting wildlife, logging and deforestation,[207][208] and climate change.[209][210] The most prominent environmental agency is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created by presidential order in 1970.[211] The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act.[212] The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is intended to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.[213]
The United States is ranked 24th among nations in the Environmental Performance Index.[214] The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments.[215] It left the Paris Agreement in 2020,[216] and rejoined it in 2021.[217]