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For
Immediate Release
April 28, 2004
Critical
Habitat Hearing Reveals Growing
Consensus on Need for Modernization
Assistant Secretary Manson issues new
regulations
to encourage conservation on private
lands
Washington, DC - The
House Committee on Resources, chaired by
Richard W. Pombo (R-CA), heard testimony
from more a dozen expert witnesses today
on H.R. 2933, the Critical Habitat
Reform Act, authored by Rep. Dennis
Cardoza (D-CA). H.R. 2933 merges the
critical habitat component of the
Endangered Species Act (ESA) with the
larger effort of recovery planning.
"This was
a very encouraging hearing," Chairman
Pombo said. "There appears to be a
growing, bi-partisan consensus that the
critical habitat component of the
Endangered Species Act must be improved
to embrace the goal of species
recovery. I believe Congressman
Cardoza's legislation will do just that,
and I was pleased to hear support
expressed by Members of both sides of
the aisle today."
"The cumulative impact of previous
critical habitat decisions, without a
proper analysis and consideration of the
economic consequences, is unacceptable,"
Rep. Cardoza said. "We've seen the
effects of the Fish & Wildlife Service's
questionable decision-making on critical
habitat issues, causing unnecessary
impacts to agriculture and other
landowners, as well as to local
governments and the economy. It cannot
continue."
Also,
included in the testimony from the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service's Assistant
Secretary for
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Craig Manson,
was an announcement of revised agency
regulations for endangered species
conservation agreements on private
lands. The revised regulations provide
clearer definitions and more certainty
for property owners to incentivize
private conservation.
"Issuing these revised regulations will
encourage the people who matter most -
America's
ranchers, farmers, and private land
owners - to engage in voluntary measures
to conserve species on their lands,"
said Chairman Pombo. "This spirit of
cooperation is essential to recovering
endangered species across the country,
as more than ninety percent of our
species live on private lands."
Consensus on the need for critical
habitat improvement has grown in recent
years and during previous
administrations. For example, former
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt
and former Fish and Wildlife Service
Director Jamie Rappaport Clark have long
advocated reforms, stating that critical
habitat designations offer little to the
goal of species recovery. The current
Assistant Secretary of the Interior for
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Craig Manson
agrees. So too does Michael Bean of
Environmental Defense.
"Merging
critical habitat designations with the
recovery planning component of the
Endangered Species Act will help focus
the law on species recovery, making
recovery our number-one priority," said
Chairman Pombo. "This was the intent of
the law, but after thirty years it has
only recovered twelve of the roughly
1300 species listed. These results for
recovery must improve, and I am
confident that Rep. Cardoza's
legislation will help us achieve that
goal."
For more
information, visit
http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/
for the report:
The ESA at 30: A Mandate for
Modernization
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