Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) is poised to lead the Department of the Interior, with his nomination passing a Senate committee last week and now headed to the Senate floor. Endangered species have cause for alarm.

As interior secretary, Zinke would oversee about one-fifth of the nations land, 70,000 employees and several agencies including the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

That means hed lead the stewardship of Americas most vulnerable wildlife and plants. The Fish and Wildlife Service is one of two agencies that administers the Endangered Species Act , the strongest and most important federal law protecting threatened species. About 700 native animals and more than 900 native plants are currently listed as threatened or endangered.

Under the Obama administration, 23 species recovered enough to be removed from the protected list. In the Acts 43-year history, more recoveries have been declared under the [Obama] Administrations watch than all past Administrations combined , Fish and Wildlife announced this past August.

It was a piece of good news amidst an extinction crisis of tragic proportions. According to a World Wildlife Fund report published last year, humans could kill off two-thirds of the worlds wildlife by 2020.

Conservationists have expressed concern that Zinkes nomination could halt the positive trend for Americas threatened species. Although his supporters note that he is a defender of public lands and one of the more conservation-minded GOP lawmakers, the League of Conservation Voters gave Zinke a rock-bottom 3 percent lifetime voting record on issues such as air and water, climate change, drilling, forests and wildlife.