From: "Lisa Dix" <ldix@americanlands.org>
Subject: Pombo Gearing Up to Introduce Wildlife Extinction Bill
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 18:44:25 -0400

To:     All Activists

From:  American Lands Alliance & The Endangered Species Coalition

Date:   July 13, 2005



Pombo Gearing Up to Introduce Wildlife Extinction Bill

Calls Needed to Congress to Urge Opposition



House Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo has tipped his hand. 
Details of his planned Anti-Endangered Species Act legislation have 
been circulated on Capitol Hill and written about in the New York 
Times and other major papers.  (See 
<http://www.stopextinction.org/>http://www.stopextinction.org/ for 
this coverage.)



The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, 
fish and plants on the brink of extinction.  Rep. Pombo's bill would 
cut large holes in this safety net.  In the coming months, Congress 
will likely vote on Pombo's plan to gut the Endangered Species Act. 
It is critical that Members of Congress stand up for our natural 
heritage and oppose his scheme to repeal the protections that the 
Endangered Species Act provides.



We need your help to stop this bill.



TAKE ACTION:  Please call or write your Representative and ask them 
to oppose Representative Pombo's bill that would weaken the 
protections of the Endangered Species Act.



To call your Representative dial the Capitol switchboard at:  (202) 224-3121

To email your Representative look up the e-address at: 
<http://www.house.gov/>http://www.house.gov/



Background

Representative Pombo's Developers' Wildlife Extinction bill would gut 
the Endangered Species Act on behalf of developers, oil companies, 
timber companies, mining companies and extreme property rights 
groups.  We have not yet seen the full legislative language, but have 
seen a summary of the major points.



According to reports, the bill would:

Expire the Endangered Species Act in the year 2015
Change the definition of conservation, to abandon the nation's 
commitment to recovering species on the brink of extinction
Redefine the definition of endangered species so that the species 
must be endangered throughout its entire range.  (If this provision 
was law when the ESA was first enacted, it would have been impossible 
to list the bald eagle, the grizzly bear, the gray wolf and many 
other species who are endangered in the lower 48, but not endangered 
in Alaska or Canada.)
Weaken protections for species listed as "threatened" under the law
Weaken habitat protection, by requiring only occupied, and not 
unoccupied, habitat be protected
Exempt federal agencies from the requirement to consult with the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service on actions that might impact endangered 
species
Require the federal government to pay landowners for the cost of 
complying with the law, under an onerous "takings" provision


The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, 
fish and plants on the brink of extinction.  It has been enormously 
successful in preventing the extinction of hundreds of species, 
including bald eagles, gray wolves and Pacific salmon. We must not 
diminish protections for these magnificent animals, or for the places 
they call home.



For more information, visit 
<http://www.stopextinction.org/>http://www.stopextinction.org/





Lisa Dix

National Forest Program Director

American Lands Alliance

ldix@americanlands.org

Ph: 202-547-9105; Fax: 202-547-9213




American Lands  Alliance  http://americanlands.org

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