[EMAIL PROTECTED] ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Note: The following article has been reprinted from the current issue of "Connections" an alternative newspaper serving the San Joaquin County area of California.The article can be reprinted.For more information regarding Connections, contact the Peace & Justice Network, P.O. Box 4123, Stockton, Ca 95204. ------------------- Trust Pombo to Reauthorize the Endangered Species Act? An important piece of legislation has just been released by Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA). The legislation, H 2275, is a reauthorization act for one of the most important pieces of environmental law, the Endangered Species Act (ESA). I want to say a few words about Congressman Pombo's credentials to handle this important task. For starters, let's look at a McNeil-Lehrer News Hour aired on PBS, May 25, 1995. The news show produced a document in which Congressman Pombo had submitted a House Subcommittee reviewing endangered species issues that his ranch had been declared a critical habitat for the Kit Fox and he had suffered serious economic losses as a result. When confronted by the reporters, Pombo stated that he had not been affected by the Endangered Species Act, but that his neighbors had. The reporters interviewed the Fish and Wildlife Service. They stated that no land in that entire valley had ever been designated critical habitat for the Kit Fox. Anti-environmentalist Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) appointed Richard Pombo to head Endangered Species Act hearings across America, rather than using the proper subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife (which is headed by Republican Jim Saxton, a supporter of the ESA). His reasons were obvious; Pombo's anti-conservation rhetoric is famous. He excluded scientists and ESA supporters (including representatives from Indian tribes and the fishing industry) from citizen testimony at the ESA hearings. He recanted his testimony when asked for clarification by the reporter. I doubt the ethics committee will be convened, though, since he's so important to the Republican anti-enviro/health law push. The future of our most important piece of environmental legislation is in the hands of a confirmed liar, who resorts to excluding scientists and giving false testimony when his political stance against the ESA can't stand on the facts. Think of him as the energizer bunny of politics. He just keeps going and going and going, always veering further to the right. This statement from a recent Sacramento News & Review article was talking about Richard Pombo, the Stockton congressman who has become a darling of the endangered Species Act bashers. In a recent column in the Elk Grove Citizen, Pombo once again shows how fragile his grasp on reality truly is as he takes yet another shot at the Stone Lakes Wildlife refuge. What will happen if the refuge continues to expand? "The result will be cutting down rain forest or other biologically diverse areas in other countries in order to replace lands which were taken out of production here in the United States," warns Pombo, as if he actually cared about rain forests or biological diversity in this country or any other. I recently wrote to congressman Pombo after receiving a form letter when I called to urge him to strengthen the ESA. In my letter, I offered to provide him with a report prepared by a panel of distinguished ecologists regarding the ESA. The report concludes that the 1973 ESA is a powerful and sensible way to protect biological diversity. The report also concludes that the ESA contains the procedures and mechanisms to achieve the stated goal of preserving the nation's biological resources for the benefit of the United States public. In my letter, I also outlined my experiences with the ESA and why I believe, like many other citizens, that it needs to be strengthened. To date, I have had no response or acceptance to my offer. I urge others to carefully look at the facts surrounding the ESA and not be taken in by the "scare tactics" being used by special interests to destroy this critical law. Meanwhile, my offer to enlighten congressman Pombo still stands. Dale Steele Dale T. Steele, Chief....\......./...Mountain Beaver Research/Ecologist Environmental Br. B........\.../........(EcoNet) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Caltrans, Dist. 10...........X.........(Work) dsteele@[EMAIL PROTECTED] P.O. Box 2048............../...\..........(Work).(209) 948-7035 Stockton, CA 95205......./.......\......(Construction Zone Ahead).
