The Endangered Species Act is turning 50. Has it succeeded?

The law has kept many species from dying out — but few have made it off the 'endangered' list

A California condor soars in the sky.

The California condor, North America’s largest bird, almost went extinct in the 1980s. Thanks in part to protections provided by the Endangered Species Act, nearly 350 of these majestic scavengers now soar over parts of California and Arizona.

Adam Jones/Getty Images

While growing up in California in the 1980s, Winifred Frick never saw a condor in the wild.