The U.S. House Resources Committee passed H.R. 3824, the “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA)” on a 26-12 vote on Thursday, September 22. The bill now approaches a vote on the House floor and will be voted on as early as this week. Your calls and emails are needed right now to urge your Representative to support the bill.

Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, contends the ESA causes lawsuits and conflicts with landowners, while failing to do enough for species.

"I am willing to do whatever we can to put the focus on recovery and do what we can to recover these species as long as my property owners are protected," said Pombo. Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton commended the House Resources Committee for passing the legislation and lauded provisions of the bill that improve the recovery planning process and provide for the development of a clear definition of "best available scientific data."

Bipartisan efforts to reform the Endangered Species Act are being driven by the failure of the current program to actually save species from extinction as seen by the clear evidence.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, only 10 (or less than 1%) of the roughly 1300 species listed have actually been recovered in the Act's 34-year history. What is the status of the remaining listed species? According to the Service data:

• 39% of the Act's listed species are classified as being in "unknown" status. They have no idea - could be extinct.
• 21% are classified as "declining."
• 3% are classified as "believed to be extinct," though they remain on the list.
• 30% are classified as "stable," though for many species in this category, this classification is a result of corrections to original data error, rather than actual accomplishments of the ESA.
• And finally, only 6% are classified by the Service as "improving."

TESRA would:

1. Require the federal government to compensate land owners if protecting endangered species forced them to give up the use of their land. (If compensation is not paid, the government could not enforce the act.) - for example, developers would be compensated for the value of structures they could not build because of restrictions that were ordered to protect wildlife.
2. Offer property owners grants and incentives to cooperate in protecting species on their land -- remove the unintended consequences of the original ESA that prompts landowners to engage in what is known as "shoot, shovel, and shut up" by creating Conservation Aid and Conservation Grants.
3. Eliminate critical habitat designations because it does nothing but cause litigation and waste resources and instead require the agency to prepare recovery plans that identify certain areas considered to be important to a species' recovery.
4. Require the federal government to give greater weight to peer-reviewed science and empirical data, rather than computer modeling of the populations of endangered species.
5. Direct the secretary of the Interior to write new rules for determining the "best science" in listing endangered or threatened species.
6. Create bigger roles for state and local governments, insulating state officials from liability for them when they issue permits, or review notices or plans, authorizing private activity. 
7. Increase opportunities for public input into all ESA regulatory processes, federal, state and local and
8. Focus government resources and public accountability on species recovery, not on species listing. In the future, species must have a Recovery Plan within 2 years of listing. TESRA also requires that recovery plans be developed and implemented for the hundreds of listed species without them presently. TESRA Recovery Plans will provide for development of expert Recovery Teams for each and every species in need. These will consist of biologists, relevant state, local and federal government officials, and affected parties. TESRA requires all recovery plans be re-visited and re-evaluated every 5 years to make sure progress is made, lessons are learned, and the best approaches toward recovery are utilized.

The National Grange supports a review of the ESA with the follow­ing guidelines: focus on keystone species (organisms critical to the stable functions of entire habitats and ecosystems), not minor or reduced species; rely on public lands for preservation; encourage voluntary protection by individuals and corpora­tions; curtail taking of private lands for ESA; balance human costs with ecological benefits; compensation for private property owners for loss of usage of their property due to the ESA.

Please contact today your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 3824, the “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005 (TESRA).”

Capitol switchboard: (202) 225-3121
For contact information of your Representative, click HOUSE.

If you have any questions or comments please contact Legislative Research Analyst Chil-Sook Hwang by e-mail: chwang@nationalgrange.org by fax: 202-347-1091 or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext 109.

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