***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
New
United States Endangered Species Bill Soon to be Introduced
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
June
11, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Following
is the Global Action and Information Network's very
insightful
piece into the present political situation surrounding
the
proposed amending of the Endangered Species Act, including
Newt
Gingrich's opinions. This was posted in
GAIN's conference,
gain.ecosystem
on the econet. The piece wraps up with
an appeal
for
letters to the editor and politicians as a bill that would
amend
the act appears near to being introduced.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
/*
Written 7:43 PM Jun
9, 1995 by gain in igc:gain.ecosystem */
/*
---------- "ESA Bill Introduced Soon in House" ---------- */
===
GAIN UPDATE: ESA Legislation to
be Introduced Soon ==
House Committee Hearing
on June 21
* * *
GLOBAL ACTION AND INFORMATION NETWORK
* * *
740 Front Street, Suite 355 Santa Cruz,
CA 95060
phone: 408-457-0130 email: gain@gain.org
* * * June 9, 1995 * * *
After
10 oversight hearings in five states and testimony from
about
150 witnesses, the House Resources Committee ESA Task Force
will
NOT make formal recommendations to the Committee Chair or the
full
committee. According to the Environmental and Energy Study
Institute's
_Weekly Bulletin_ (6/5/95), a Task
Force aide
explained,
"We can choose between writing reports and writing
legislation;
we've chosen to write the legislation,"
EESI says
that
committee staff have already begun working on the ESA bill
and
plan to have it ready for a hearing on June 21.
Representative
Young, the Resources Committee Chair, wants to
bring a
ESA Reauthorization bill to the House floor by July!
However
House Speaker Gingrich has an intriguing suggestion that
would
happen over the August recess. At a May
25 hearing,
Gingrich
(R-GA) suggested that ranchers, loggers,
environmentalists and biologists convene a meeting over
that
recess
in which they switch roles and try to resolve the problems
and
challenges the law poses for each group. The goal for all
players
in the debate, said Gingrich, should be to write a new law
that is
"economically rational, biologically correct and respects
the
property rights of individuals."
(source: EESI 6/5/95)
While
urging his colleagues to try to give equal consideration to
property
rights and the need for biological diversity, Gingrich
also
said that "the Endangered Species Act is the wrong slogan, it
should
be the biological diversity act."
On this point, he's in
strange
and rare point of agreement with the Administration, who
would
like to use a multi-species approach to conservation, rather
than
the current species-by-species approach.
SUPPORT
FOR STRENGTHENING ESA...Representatives of groups from the
Endangered
Species Coalition visited offices of House Members
yesterday
to speak out for the ESA. Emphasis included
the recent
report
of the National Research Council which concluded that the
ESA is
scientifically valid, and urged that the Act be
strengthened. The ESC reported that public government
employees
support
a strong ESA as well. A poll by PEER,
Public Employees
for
Environmental Responsibility, shows that 66% of its members
want to
strengthen the ESA.
STATUS
IN THE SENATE:
The
Senate is moving slower than the House.
Senator Chafee (R-
RI),
chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee,
stated
at a recent ESA hearing that "while the ESA will be
amended,
it is safe to say that it will not be repealed or
gutted." Most Americans .... support the conservation
of fish and
wildlife
and maintenance of a healthy environment," stated Chafee.
"However,
they want our environmental laws to be less burdensome
and
more effective."
While
Chafee is against weakening the ESA, it is actually Senator
Dirk
Kempthorne (R-ID) who chairs the subcommittee with
jurisdiction
over the ESA. He will continue holding
field
hearings
this summer -- having already held two over the Memorial
Day
recess. As with the House hearings,
there have already been
complaints
about stacking the witnesses unfairly.
Among those
passed
over, according to was Lewiston City
Councilmember John A.
K.
Barker -- who runs a family river guide business. "I think
it's a
shame . . . they couldn't find room for an elected city
council
member, who supports a solid ESA," Barker said. (sources:
"ESA
Today", Endangered Species Coalition;
EESI, 6/5/95)
WHAT TO
EXPECT IN THE HOUSE BILL...
The
following brief review of what the House ESA Reauthorization
bill is
likely to contain is edited from this week's EESI Weekly
Bulletin
report.
Resources
Committee staff are keeping a tight lid on details of
the
reauthorization bill, but one aide said there will be
"substantial
differences" between the proposal and the 1973 law.
Young's
bill will use incentives to enlist private property owners
in
protecting species and likely will require federal compensation
for
land that is devalued because it hosts threatened or
endangered
species, the aide said. With a compensation provision
in the
bill, it is unlikely that there would also be exemptions
for
small property owners, who claim they pay disproportionately
to
protect species.
Many
critics of the Endangered Species Act agree there is an
unfair
burden placed on small land owners and have urged
exemptions
for small tracts of land. Surprisingly, Pombo, a
champion
of private property rights, has said he does not support
an
Interior Department proposal to exempt from the requirements of
the law
persons who would disturb five acres or fewer of critical
habitat
for threatened species. (The exemption would not apply for
endangered
species, which are closer to extinction,) He called the
proposal
a "poor plan for protecting species, whether you're
talking
about 5, 10, 20 or 100 acres." An
aide said Pombo
believes
financially compensating land owners for development and
other
restrictions that result in devaluation of property makes
more
sense.
The agency
would also like to see changes in the petition process,
which
currently allows any individual to request that a particular
species
be protected under the law. Petitioners are not required
to
provide any documentation that the species in question is
nearing
critically low numbers and the agency is obligated to
research
and respond to all such requests. The system is
cumbersome
and costly for both the Fish and Wildlife Service,
which
deals with land species, and the National Marine Fisheries
Service,
which deals with marine mammals and some fish. Research
to
determine whether a species deserves protection takes a year or
more
and all decisions, including those not to list a species,
must
undergo peer review by three independent experts.
The
agency would also welcome broader authority to use the so-
called
4(d) rule to encourage habitat protection for multiple
species.
The agency currently uses the rule to enter into
agreements
with property owners whose land could host a single
vulnerable
species, such as the spotted owl. Property owners that
takes
steps to attract such species are held harmless if later
actions
result in an incidental taking of the species.
Young,
who does not sit on the task force but attended the
hearing,
was unmoved by the testimony of administration officials.
He said
the Endangered Species Act has become the epitome of "big
brother
government telling people what to do...and people won't
tolerate
it." He complained that the U.S. Forest Service has
overstepped
its boundaries in closing off an area for logging in
the
Tongass National Forest to protect the habitat of the
Alexander
Archipelago Wolf and the Queen Charlotte Goshawk.
David
Unger, associate chief of the Forest Service, said the
"deferral
of activities" in Tongass was a "preliminary step" to
allow
agency biologists to study both species further and
hopefully
avoid listing them as either threatened or endangered.
Young
was not persuaded. "You're hurting people and you're hurting
jobs...you
better get your act together. You're misusing the law
and my
people are out of work," he shot back.
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
ACTION
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
There
will be committee action on actual ESA reuthorization
legislation
in the House later this month. It's not
too early to
register
your views on this highly controversial and under attack
law.
* Write
letters to the editor (your local newspaper) and
*
Contact your Representative and members of the House Resource
Committee. Addresses and committee listing below:
The
Honorable (your House representative)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515.
House
Resource Committee 202-225-2761
Room
1324, Longworth House Office Building
Washington
D.C. 20515
House Committee on
Resources
In Order by Seniority Within
Party
------------------------------------------------------------------
Republicans (25) Democrats (20)
-------------------------------- -----------------------
1. YOUNG, DON (R-AK) 1.
MILLER, GEORGE (D-CA)
Chair Ranking Minority Member
2. HANSEN (R-UT) 2.
RAHALL (D-WV)
3. SAXTON (R-NJ) 3. VENTO (D-MN)
4. GALLEGLY (R-CA) 4.
KILDEE (D-MI)
5. DUNCAN, JR. (R-TN) 5. WILLIAMS, PAT (D-MT)
6. HEFLEY (R-CO) 6.
GEJDENSON (D-CT)
7. DOOLITTLE (R-CA) 7. RICHARDSON
(D-NM)
8. ALLARD (R-CO) 8.
DEFAZIO (D-OR)
9. GILCHREST (R-MD) 9.
FALEOMAVAEGA (D-AS)
10. CALVERT (R-CA) 10.
JOHNSON, TIMOTHY(D-SD)
11. POMBO (R-CA) 11.
ABERCROMBIE (D-HI)
12. TORKILDSEN (R-MA) 12. STUDDS
(D-MA)
13. HAYWORTH (R-AZ) 13.
TAUZIN (D-LA)
14. CREMEANS (R-OH) 14.
ORTIZ (D-TX)
15. CUBIN (R-WY) 15.
DOOLEY (D-CA)
16. COOLEY (R-OR) 16.
ROMERO-BARCELO (D-PR)
17. CHENOWETH (R-ID) 17.
HINCHEY (D-NY)
18. SMITH (R-WA) 18.
UNDERWOOD (D-GUAM)
19. RADANOVICH (R-CA) 19. FARR
(D-CA)
20. JONES (R-NC) (vacancy)
21. THORNBERRY (R-TX)
22. HASTINGS (R-WA)
23. METCALF (R-WA)
24. LONGLEY (R-ME)
25. SHADEGG (R-AZ)
For
more information, contact:
Endangered
Species Coalition (202)547-9009
--------------------------------------------------------------
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###RELAYED
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