Kristen Boyles, a Seattle attorney for Earthjustice, a non-profit law firm that represents environmental interests, argues that the act has been doing what it was intended to do, keep species from going extinct.

"They are still here, they are still with us," Boyles said.

She said it took hundred of years to get species into trouble and the process of recovering them could also be lengthy.

"None of these are going to be overnight solutions."

The most controversial change proposed in the bill would make the government pay "fair market" price for property needed in a project to benefit ESA protected species.

Former State Sen. Steve Harper introduced Walden at a Klamath Falls rally and charged that environmental groups are able to "steal" private property by forcing restoration projects on it, but not paying for it.

The change would make the taking of such land similar to when the government takes private land for a freeway, Walden said. Now people will be compensated for their land.

Boyles said the bill's language is vague and people couldn't simply say they might be harmed by an Endangered Species Act project and then they would get a payment from the government.

"It's clearly made to bankrupt the system," she said.

The money used to buy property would take away from the budget for projects, she said.

The 72-page bill, House Bill 3824, combines crusades by more than a dozen lawmakers to change the ESA, such as U.S. Reps Richard Pombo, a California Republican, and Dennis Cardoza, a California Democrat.

'We specifically came out to California and Oregon because this is where the problems are," Walden said.

Citing 2001, Walden said, "The Klamath Basin is ground zero in the effort to reform the ESA."

If the changes proposed in the bill had been in place in 2001, "I doubt the water would have been turned off here," Walden said.

He outlined the bill atop the steps of the Klamath County Government Center Monday afternoon.

At the announcement, Walden was surrounded by people and things telling of the 2001 water issue.

In the crowd of about 50 were farmers and ranchers, as well as county and city leaders.

Behind him was a shinny green tractor holding a sign that said "Amend the ESA," which had been used at the 2001 Bucket Brigade protest that garnered national attention. In front of him was a giant metal bucket symbolic of the event.

In all, six Democrats and eight Republicans - from Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington and Wyoming - signed as co-sponsors of the bill, which was spearheaded by Pombo.

The bill may succeed where others have failed because it is bipartisan, its writers said.

Pombo's U.S. House Resources Committee passed two bills last year to amend the ESA but neither got a vote on the House floor. Earlier attempts to amend the law also went nowhere, including a 1997 effort that cleared a Senate committee.

A congressional hearing concerning the bill is set for Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

-The Associated Press contributed to this story

On the Net:

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/