Endangered Species Act

For over thirty years, the Endangered Species Act has been a safety net for our nation’s wildlife on the brink of extinction. Because of its protections, majestic bald eagles and peregrine falcons still soar over our mountains, wolves once again roam in Yellowstone, and humpback whales travel our coasts. Indeed, the Endangered Species Act has been so effective that over 97% of the species that have ever been listed under the Act remain with us today.

Here in Montana, fifteen native species of plants and animals benefit from the Endangered Species Act’s protections, including bull trout and the Canada lynx, as well as rare birds like the piping plover. In addition, the law also protects the ecosystems that these and other species depend upon, providing important safeguards to Montana’s mountains, plains, forests, and rivers.

Background

In 1973 Congress passed the Endangered Species Act. The bipartisan bill sailed through the Senate 92-0 and the House 355-4. When President Nixon signed the bill into law, he declared the following:

"Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed. It is a many-faceted treasure, of value to scholars, scientists, and nature lovers alike, and it forms a vital part of the heritage we all share as Americans [and] which we hold in trust to countless future generations of our fellow citizens."

The Endangered Species Act remains widely popular today.

A recent nationwide poll demonstrated that 86% of Americans support the ESA.

Over 5,700 biologists from across the country signed a letter to Senators calling on them to support the Endangered Species Act.

Over 200 businesses nationwide have signed onto a letter in support of the Endangered Species Act, citing the many economic benefits provided by the Act’s protections for wildlife and habitat.

Nevertheless, America’s natural heritage is threatened by special interests and politicians in Washington D.C. that seek to eliminate the checks and balances that the Endangered Species Act provides. Using soft-sounding words such as “update” and “reform,” these special interests seek to undermine the very principles for which the Act was passed. There are two bills in the 109th Congress that would signi ficant ly weaken the Endangered Species Act and impede efforts to protect and recover endangered species.

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) is leading the charge to aggressively strip the Endangered Species Act of its strongest protections. In September 2005, the House of Representatives narrowly passed Rep. Pombo’s “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act” (H.R. 3824). This bill would dismantle the core protections of the Endangered Species Act and was opposed by the conservation, religious and scientific communities. If this bill becomes law, it would repeal the “critical habitat” provision of the Endangered Species Act, in spite of studies showing that species with designated “critical habitat” are more likely to be recovering than those without. The bill would also remove protections against hazardous pesticides, politicize the scientific decision-making process, and eliminate the requirement that government agencies consider cumulative impacts when deciding if their own actions will harm species. Perhaps most egregiously, it would set up an unprecedented entitlement program that would require the federal government to use taxpayers dollars to pay developers for complying with the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition against killing or injuring endangered species.

In December 2005, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced the “Collaboration and Recovery of Endangered Species Act” (S. 2110) – another bill that would significantly weaken protections for imperiled wildlife. Although the bill purports to provide greater incentives for private landowner conservation, the legislative language does not carry out the bill’s stated goals. Instead, the bill would seriously weaken the Endangered Species Act’s safety net provisions protecting endangered species and habitats. It would indefinitely delay listing, recovery plans and critical habitat protections, while forcing taxpayers to pay developers and other landowners to comply with the law.

Recommendations for the Future

• ESA Reauthorization: Although the Endangered Species Act has been due for reauthorization since 1992, the conservation community is united in opposition to any bill that would weaken the fundamental protections of the Act. Since H.R. 3824 has already passed the House, any reauthorization bill that passes the Senate (even a good bill) would have to enter into a conference committee with H.R. 3824. Given the current Congressional leadership, the Endangered Species Coalition believes that any final bill emerging from such a conference committee would very likely be detrimental to wildlife and wildlife habitat. The conservation community supports a strong Endangered Species Act reauthorization which focuses on recovery, not just the survival of listed species and is opposed to any reauthorization bill that would weaken the protections for wildlife on the brink of extinction.

• Funding: Every year, the United States Congress must pass appropriations bills which authorize funding for all federal programs. However, for years, the Endangered Species Act has been chronically under-funded, making it difficult for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to carry out its responsibilities to protect and recover endangered species, conserve imperiled habitat, and enforce the Endangered Species Act. This is why 30 U.S. Senators recently wrote a bi-partisan letter to their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee urging full funding of the Endangered Species Act’s programs. Unfortunately, President Bush’s budget request for FY2007 further reduces funding below the current levels. The Endangered Species Act’s programs need to be funded at levels appropriate to protect and recover imperiled wildlife.

• Landowner Conservation Incentives: Farmers, ranchers and other private landowners play an important role in threatened and endangered species conservation. Programs that provide voluntary economic incentives for landowners undertaking effective conservation programs are critical to protecting and recovering endangered species. The Endangered Species Act’s protections often serve as an impetus for proactive, voluntary cooperation. Incentive-based conservation programs should be added to – not substituted for the regulatory and enforcement mechanisms contained within the ESA. The Endangered Species Coalition supports the funding and implementation of programs that provide incentives to landowners who proactively participate in habitat protection and restoration that assists in the recovery of endangered and threatened species.

Montana’s 15 Threatened and Endangered Species

Animals

• Bull trout (T)
• Pallid sturgeon (E)
• White sturgeon (E)
• Canada lynx (T)
• Grizzly bear (T)
• Gray wolf (T)
• Black-footed ferret (E)
• Bald eagle (T)
• Whooping crane (E)
• Least tern (E)
• Piping plover (T)
• Eskimo curlew (E)

Plants

• Ladies’ tresses (T)
• Spalding’s catchfly (T)
• Water howellia (T)

E (Endangered) T (Threatened) Source: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service