CONGRESSMAN
GREG WALDEN
In 1973, Congress passed the Endangered Species Act
(ESA), legislation designed to recover threatened and endangered species.
Since its enactment more than 30 years ago, more than 1,800 species have
been listed. Instinct might cause
you to say, “That’s great! It’s
working.” But what you don’t often here is that, of those listed, less than
one percent have actually been recovered.
Simply stated, this well-intentioned law is not
working as it should. We have a
responsibility to thoroughly examine the 32-year-old law and figure out ways to
make it an effective tool for species recovery without unduly burdening
communities and private landowners.
Not only should the health of species throughout the
nation be demonstrably improved by the ESA, but the health of communities and
local economies should be carefully addressed as well.
Not many things can survive a lifespan of more than three decades needing
no update, strengthening, revision or alteration.
The ESA is no different.
We need a 21st century law to help preserve and protect
species, the environment and communities for generations to come.
We need to update and strengthen the Endangered
Species Act on a variety of fronts, enhancing its ability to effectively,
efficiently and fairly meet recovery objectives.
It’s time to make federal agencies charged with
administering the law open up the process to the public.
It’s time to set standards to make sure the best possible scientific
data available are used. It’s time
to ensure that states have a direct role in the process.
It’s time to reach out to private property owners, protecting their
rights while encouraging participation in recovery efforts.
And it’s time to make sure that no region of the country ever suffers
as the
When it comes to the fate of a species or the fate
of a region, we want to make sure that government scientists are relying on
sound data. As the National Academy
of Sciences found in their independent peer review, the government decisions
that lead to the water shut-off to
But ensuring that government scientists rely on
sound data is not enough. If you are
serious about wanting to save species from extinction, merely placing them on a
list won’t do the trick. There
must also be a level of prioritization for species recovery, developing
timelines and strategies based on those priorities so that resources and efforts
are directed where most necessary.
Additionally, the process must be open to the
public, with information used in decision-making easily accessible, including on
the internet, and recovery efforts must be reported to both Congress and the
public on a regular basis.
Threatened and endangered species do not recognize
the distinction between public and private land, so a strong partnership between
the government and private landowners is imperative to the recovery of such
species. Not only do we need to
provide incentives that will help landowners implement conservation efforts, we
must also provide fair compensation when those same landowners are ordered by
the government to stop using their property. That is the same principle employed
when the government takes land for other public uses, such as highways.
The protection of species is a matter of public
interest and is guided by laws of the federal government; we should not expect
private landowners to bear the full cost of recovery efforts.
Every year, the Congress takes action to update old
laws, bringing them in line with 21st century technologies and
capabilities in order to make them more effective.
The Endangered Species Act and those it impacts deserve this same
attention.
The concepts outlined here are included in
legislation unveiled this week by the Chairman of the House Resources Committee,
myself and several of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
It results from several years of hearings and give-and-take negotiations.
It’s a modernization measure that will help ensure greater
public-private partnerships and real progress for the recovery of species, as
the original law intended.