Dems. help block proposed policies to restrict Endangered Species Act

[mfb99]

Late today from The Hill:

Lawmakers remove GOP endangered species policies from defense bill
Congress’s annual defense bill won’t include proposed polices that would restrict Endangered Species Act protections for certain animals.

Lawmakers negotiating between House and Senate defense authorization bills decided not to include any of the endangered species provisions the House had put in its version of the legislation in the final version of the bill.

The House wanted to block potential endangered species protections for the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken for 10 years, and to permanently block protections for the American burying beetle.

A House Armed Services Committee GOP aide told reporters Monday that none of the endangered species protections were included in the final National Defense Authorization Act that both chambers will vote on.

“The provisions about endangered species are not in the conference report,” the aide said.

Republicans had argued that the provisions were necessary for military readiness, because species protections would make training and other activities more difficult.

But Democrats, joined by conservationists, fought the endangered species provisions, saying they would be unnecessary and dangerous for the species at hand.

“These deceptive provisions would cause irreparable harm to our wildlife and public lands,” more than 100 Democrats wrote to leading negotiators last week.

The sage grouse provision had gotten the most attention by both supporters and opponents. While the chicken-sized bird is not being eyed for protections by the Trump administration, its presence near and on military basis has made the GOP nervous about potential protections.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, has for years pushed to stop sage grouse protections through the defense bills.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has pushed back in the past, but due to his ongoing cancer fight, McCain has not been closely involved with defense bill negotiations this year.

Keep up the fight.....

Cheers,

Mark

Ye Shall Be Free To Roam.....

 

[LuketheDog]

I just read this morning that the dems and their horse-loving minions are also making a big push to save scores of over-populated and environment-destroying wild horses in the Southwest from death by providing them with thousands of gallons of drinking water and feed...it's a shame they don't panic like that for the wildlife

 

[Big Fin]

I'm hardly a big fan of the UT Doctrine, but some ESA changes are necessary to level the playing field between the USFWS and the litigators. That said, I suspect this supposed "reform" effort will be the same old story where one side wants to swing the pendulum so far that it exceeds the bounds of "tweaking" (no, I didn't say twerking).

The history of how portions of the ESA have been used, better stated as abused, makes this a very predictable effort by the folks currently in power. If you couldn't see this one coming, you've been sleeping for the last twenty years. And for many folks who have tired of the "conservation for cash" model of the litigators, it is hard to move this debate up the list of priorities when our scarce time/energy is absorbed with many public land programs are under political pressure.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Randy,

Senator Barrasso's attempt at reform for the ESA stands a chance of being bi-partisan and it largely mirrors what the Western Governor's Association have said needs to happen. That effort (WGA) was a multi-year stakeholder process that had input form multiple conservation organizations as well as state wildlife managers, federal wildlife managers, ranchers, farmers and the energy industry. If Barrasso follows that lead, then I think he may end up with a product that reflects the current situation with the ESA that needs reform, mostly continuing the good work done in past administrations (namely Bush II & Obama) to incentive private land conservation as well help provide regulatory certainty for industry.

The NDAA riders ignored all of that, and they ignored the bi-partisan requests from the Governors of MT, WY, CO, NV & OR to not include the rider in the final bill. It also had the DOD rectract a longstanding position of not wanting the grouse rider because the bird did nothing to help or hinder military readiness. The retraction came from a politically appointed person at DOD, not career staff.

The effort to remove riders wasn't just dems though. Senator McCain has been a steadfast opponent of non-germane riders to the Defense Bill for a long, long time, and despite Inhofe's appropriation of the process, the Senator from Arizona still made his presence known. Also involved were BHA, NWF, TRCP, Audubon, The Wilderness Society, Pew Trusts, Vet VOices (who did a major fly-in to fight this effort) and so many other organizations at the local level like Muley Fanatics Foundation, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Local chapters of the Sierra Club, Conservation Colorado, etc.

The big take away here is that Bishop almost succeeded in not only getting a bad rider in a bill that had nothing to do with wildlife management, but that he has the Trump administration backing his play to eviscerate the ESA - which is what the rider would do.

If that rider were to have passed, the litigation for listing would have a much stronger chance of passing muster with judges, especially ones like Winmill in ID. That judicial finding then would have been the impetus for a full-on attempt to gut the act by Bishop, Zinke & Co.

We may dislike what Dems are doing on feral horses, but it's not Dems that are trying to undermine every conservation law and program out there for the benefit of their donors. I've been working on the grouse issue for 4 years now, and I think it's a fair claim to say that this congress & administration are hell-bent on proving their government can't manage public land or wildlife.

 

[BuzzH]

The most telling thing for me is the fact they want to block listing of sage grouse and lesser prairie chickens for 10 years, I don't like that one bit.

IMO, Congress (at least the Bishop types) have to be fearing that one or both will be listed within that time-frame and want to make sure unfettered development cant be touched by the listing of sage grouse in the mean time.

Sage grouse either qualify for the list or they don't, but putting bullchit like a 10 year moratorium on listing is pure political pandering...and its wrong. The best move is to continue to push for NSO in core habitat and let the States work with the BLM, FS, etc. to keep moving the ball in the correct direction, just like they've been successfully doing for years.

If there is going to be "changes" made to the ESA, then lets sit down and talk about that, get the decision makers, public, agencies, etc. to the table and make it a stand alone issue...not attached to a defense bill.

IMO, its an important enough issue that it deserves correct attention.