Liberty Belle
Well-known member
Should we change the law?
By WHITNEY ROYSTER
Star-Tribune Staff Writer
Change the landmark law?
The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 as a response to concern by Congress that various species of fish, wildlife and plants in the country had been rendered extinct and others depleted to the point of being in danger of, or threatened with, extinction. The act has been reauthorized eight times, and significant amendments were enacted in 1978, 1982 and 1988.
In September 2005, the U.S. House approved broad changes to the law by passing the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act. The bill's chief sponsor was House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
In December, a group of mainly Western senators, including Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., introduced out of committee the Collaboration of the Recovery of Endangered Species Act, which would also reform the Endangered Species Act.
Here's a look at the original act and the major differences in the provisions of the two reform bills:
Endangered Species Act of 1973
* What it does: Provides broad protection for species of fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered. Provisions in the act were made for listing species, as well as for recovery plans and the designation of critical habitat for listed species.
* Definitions: Endangered means that a species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threatened means that a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.
* Purpose of the law: To conserve the ecosystems upon which threatened or endangered species depend, and to conserve and recover listed species through species-specific programs. Monitoring of candidate and recovered species is required.
* Recovery plans: Depending on the species, recovery plans are either prepared by panels of recognized experts under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, by states or by consultants on the species. The act requires five years of monitoring of species that have recovered.
* Science: The act calls for listing determinations to be made solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available, after a review of the status of the species and taking into account any efforts being made to protect it.
Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act -- House-approved revision
* Habitat: The bill would eliminate the requirement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designate "critical habitat" for endangered species. The act would repeal all use of the current critical habitat designations that set limits on how public and private land can be developed.
* Landowners: The measure would require the government to pay property owners the costs of potential development stopped to protect endangered species. The act specifies that the Interior Department must respond within 180 days to a landowner with development plans, with a possible written extension, or the development could move forward.
* Science: The bill directs the Interior Department secretary to write new rules about what type of science government biologists can use in deciding about endangered species.
Collaboration of the Recovery of Endangered Species Act -- version introduced in Senate
* State involvement: The bill would significantly expand the states' roles in species management and listing decisions and allow for expanded cooperative agreements with the states that deal with candidate species or other species. That would give states more say in programs for listed species.
* Recovery: The measure would create a mechanism to allow government, interest groups and citizens to form committees to collaborate on recovery actions in local areas.
* Landowners: The bill would compensate landowners who contribute to a species' recovery with banking and tax credits. It would simplify procedures for landowners who participate in the habitat conservation planning process. It would allow a new system in which landowners could give up development rights in certain areas. In return, landowners would receive credits that could be sold to other landowners in the same area who need to fill requirements under the act.
* Priorities: Decisions on the endangered or threatened status of a species would be prioritized based on the immediacy of the risk of extinction, the likelihood of achieving recovery, the quality and quantity of data, the degree to which recovering the species helps recover other species, and the degree to which recovery would minimize conflicts with economic activities, military needs or other undefined human actions.
Sources: U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Federal Wildlife Laws Handbook, Massachusetts School of Law
March 27, 2006
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/03/26/news/wyoming/c4a055732e57cd1f8725713c00267f52.txt
By WHITNEY ROYSTER
Star-Tribune Staff Writer
Change the landmark law?
The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 as a response to concern by Congress that various species of fish, wildlife and plants in the country had been rendered extinct and others depleted to the point of being in danger of, or threatened with, extinction. The act has been reauthorized eight times, and significant amendments were enacted in 1978, 1982 and 1988.
In September 2005, the U.S. House approved broad changes to the law by passing the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act. The bill's chief sponsor was House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
In December, a group of mainly Western senators, including Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., introduced out of committee the Collaboration of the Recovery of Endangered Species Act, which would also reform the Endangered Species Act.
Here's a look at the original act and the major differences in the provisions of the two reform bills:
Endangered Species Act of 1973
* What it does: Provides broad protection for species of fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered. Provisions in the act were made for listing species, as well as for recovery plans and the designation of critical habitat for listed species.
* Definitions: Endangered means that a species is in danger of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Threatened means that a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.
* Purpose of the law: To conserve the ecosystems upon which threatened or endangered species depend, and to conserve and recover listed species through species-specific programs. Monitoring of candidate and recovered species is required.
* Recovery plans: Depending on the species, recovery plans are either prepared by panels of recognized experts under the direction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, by states or by consultants on the species. The act requires five years of monitoring of species that have recovered.
* Science: The act calls for listing determinations to be made solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available, after a review of the status of the species and taking into account any efforts being made to protect it.
Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act -- House-approved revision
* Habitat: The bill would eliminate the requirement that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designate "critical habitat" for endangered species. The act would repeal all use of the current critical habitat designations that set limits on how public and private land can be developed.
* Landowners: The measure would require the government to pay property owners the costs of potential development stopped to protect endangered species. The act specifies that the Interior Department must respond within 180 days to a landowner with development plans, with a possible written extension, or the development could move forward.
* Science: The bill directs the Interior Department secretary to write new rules about what type of science government biologists can use in deciding about endangered species.
Collaboration of the Recovery of Endangered Species Act -- version introduced in Senate
* State involvement: The bill would significantly expand the states' roles in species management and listing decisions and allow for expanded cooperative agreements with the states that deal with candidate species or other species. That would give states more say in programs for listed species.
* Recovery: The measure would create a mechanism to allow government, interest groups and citizens to form committees to collaborate on recovery actions in local areas.
* Landowners: The bill would compensate landowners who contribute to a species' recovery with banking and tax credits. It would simplify procedures for landowners who participate in the habitat conservation planning process. It would allow a new system in which landowners could give up development rights in certain areas. In return, landowners would receive credits that could be sold to other landowners in the same area who need to fill requirements under the act.
* Priorities: Decisions on the endangered or threatened status of a species would be prioritized based on the immediacy of the risk of extinction, the likelihood of achieving recovery, the quality and quantity of data, the degree to which recovering the species helps recover other species, and the degree to which recovery would minimize conflicts with economic activities, military needs or other undefined human actions.
Sources: U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Federal Wildlife Laws Handbook, Massachusetts School of Law
March 27, 2006
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2006/03/26/news/wyoming/c4a055732e57cd1f8725713c00267f52.txt