---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 20:34:09 -0500 ESA TODAY, Tues. Oct. 31, 1995, from the Endangered Species Coalition, for more information call (202)682-9400 or e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] KEMPTHORNE SAYS NO ESA?: Two Idaho activists from the Sierra Club visited Washington, DC, last week to lobby Sen. Kempthorne. According to a Boise Weekly article, David Ellenberger and Roger Singer had an appointment with Kempthorne LA, Jim Tate, who had forgotten about the meeting. The visitors were then asked to wait in the conference room where a chalkboard hanging on the wall listed four principles for re- authorizing the ESA. Underneath this list was a symbol with the letters "ESA" with a circle and a slash through them. Singer said he thinks the symbol is perfectly suited to the goal of Kempthorne's legislation. "There's going to be less protection of Idaho's endangered species, period." Singer said, "under the legislation, Tate told us that Idaho's wolves and bears would no longer be protected, and he waffled on the salmon. ARE ENDANGERED SPECIES SCAPEGOATS?: On October 26, 1993, a wildfire erupted in Riverside County, California, covering 12,000 acres in the first six hours. In an LA Times editorial, the Competitive Enterprise Institute blamed the loss of property on the Endangered Species Act, naming as the co-conspirator, the endangered Stephen's kangaroo rat. On the Central California coast this year, there was a similar debate. The long-toed salamander, was blamed for heavy floods in Santa Cruz County. What do these endangered species have in common? They are scapegoats. the kangaroo rat, the salamander, and most endangered species in California have one other thing in common: 90% of their original habitat has been destroyed by development. Scapegoating species won't solve California's economic or environmental woes. Endangered species are the symptoms, not the causes, of poor planning.
