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April 15, 2003 The
Honorable Greg Walden
U.S. House of Representatives
1404 Longworth House
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear
Congressman Walden: On
behalf of the nearly 300,000 National Grange members, I would like to express
my gratitude for your efforts to improve the Endangered Species Act, ESA and to
let you know that National Grange strongly supports legislation, the "Sound Science
for Endangered Species Act Planning Act of 2003," H.R. 1662. Over
the past year, farmers and ranchers in the Klamath River Basin have gone bankrupt,
the entire community has suffered economic and social harm and millions of wild
animals that rely on the secondary flow of irrigation water to provide habitat
and food in the region have struggled from a man-made lack of water. Therefore,
the National Grange has encouraged Congress to amend the Endangered Species Act
(ESA) to restore proper perspective by requiring public hearings and economic
impact statements on the impacts to the affected areas before a species may be
listed. We have supported changes to the ESA to require that only a pure biological
and numerical definition of an endangered species be used without being based
on sub species, distinct populations, or hybridization. We also have demanded
the compensation for private property owners for loss of usage of their property
due to the Endangered Species Act. Your
legislation would require greater weight to be given to scientific or commercial
data that is empirical or has been field-tested or peer-reviewed; improved public
participation in the listing and recovery planning process; greater role of the
states and local communities; improved processes to enable private landowners
to have certainty and take actions to protect species on private lands. We agree
completely with these principles and believe they are in keeping with the goal
of the ESA. Again,
thank you for your efforts to improve the ESA. Please recognize our members are
prepared to work with you in building additional support for H.R. 1662. Sincerely,
Leroy
Watson, Legislative Director
National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry.
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