Wire Story
GOP lawmakers call for active approach to endangered species
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON - Four lawmakers said Thursday that the result of endangered species legislation should be to make species recover instead of only staving off extinction.
“Our goal is to strengthen the Endangered Species Act by improving habitat conservation and recovery, providing more and better incentives and enhancing the role of states where appropriate,” said Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho.
Crapo, with Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Richard Pombo, R-Calif., called for members of Congress to work together on a new approach to protecting endangered species. Several of them are planning to introduce bills in the coming weeks.
Environmental activists said they will need to see the language in the bills, but their reaction was generally favorable. “We’re heartened to see both chambers of Congress joining forces to craft a reasonable approach to the conservation of species at risk,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, in an interview, “and we look forward to engaging in a dialogue where appropriate.”
Four large charts stood next to the speakers at the news conference to illustrate the effect of the Endangered Species Act, all comparing two numbers: 1,264 and 10.
The first was the number of domestic species on the endangered species list. The second was the number that have been taken off the list since the act was passed in 1973.
“I don’t think anybody, if they had a veterinarian with this kind of a record, would take their pet to that veterinarian,” Pombo said.
John Kostyack, senior counsel for the National Wildlife Federation, welcomed the idea of bringing more species to recovery, but disagreed with calling the act a failure. “What it doesn’t show is that hundreds of species have been saved from extinction by the endangered species act,” he said in an interview.
Crapo outlined four “general improvements” he hoped Congress would adopt. First, he said “biologically based priorities” should be used to make all decisions about endangered wildlife.
Second, incentives should be offered to private groups to encourage their help in protecting and learning about endangered species. Third, land managers of critical habitats should be rewarded for efforts to improve those areas.
Finally, he said federal teams that work with endangered species should be open to involvement from state and private parties, giving a stronger role to state wildlife experts.
By Logan C. Adams -- Scripps Howard Foundation Wire, Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON - Four lawmakers said Thursday that the result of endangered species legislation should be to make species recover instead of only staving off extinction.
“Our goal is to strengthen the Endangered Species Act by improving habitat conservation and recovery, providing more and better incentives and enhancing the role of states where appropriate,” said Sen. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho.
Crapo, with Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and Reps. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Richard Pombo, R-Calif., called for members of Congress to work together on a new approach to protecting endangered species. Several of them are planning to introduce bills in the coming weeks.
Environmental activists said they will need to see the language in the bills, but their reaction was generally favorable. “We’re heartened to see both chambers of Congress joining forces to craft a reasonable approach to the conservation of species at risk,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, in an interview, “and we look forward to engaging in a dialogue where appropriate.”
Four large charts stood next to the speakers at the news conference to illustrate the effect of the Endangered Species Act, all comparing two numbers: 1,264 and 10.
The first was the number of domestic species on the endangered species list. The second was the number that have been taken off the list since the act was passed in 1973.
“I don’t think anybody, if they had a veterinarian with this kind of a record, would take their pet to that veterinarian,” Pombo said.
John Kostyack, senior counsel for the National Wildlife Federation, welcomed the idea of bringing more species to recovery, but disagreed with calling the act a failure. “What it doesn’t show is that hundreds of species have been saved from extinction by the endangered species act,” he said in an interview.
Crapo outlined four “general improvements” he hoped Congress would adopt. First, he said “biologically based priorities” should be used to make all decisions about endangered wildlife.
Second, incentives should be offered to private groups to encourage their help in protecting and learning about endangered species. Third, land managers of critical habitats should be rewarded for efforts to improve those areas.
Finally, he said federal teams that work with endangered species should be open to involvement from state and private parties, giving a stronger role to state wildlife experts.
posted by Logan C. Adams at 2/14/2005 11:00:00 AM
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