And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Sun, 27 Dec 1998 22:41:20 EST >Subject: Fwd: Species Law Subject of Controversy >X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 214 > > >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Return-path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Species Law Subject of Controversy >Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 11:40:46 EST >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII >Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit > >Species Law Subject of Controversy > >.c The Associated Press > > By H. JOSEF HEBERT > >WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's been called the noblest and most powerful of >environmental laws, and also the most despised and feared. > >When the Endangered Species Act became law 25 years ago, few lawmakers >imagined the controversy it would unleash: fights pitting the protection of >plants and animals against the rights of humans to own and manage their land, >perform their job and meet the needs of a growing population. > >``It's the most visionary environmental law that has ever been passed,'' says >Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. > >Yet even as they celebrate the law, Babbitt and many environmentalists agree >new ways must be found to address the natural conflict between landowners and >species. > >Passed by Congress with hardly any opposition -- 92-0 in the Senate and 355-4 >by the House -- the law protecting imperiled species was signed by President >Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973. > >Strangely, it received only scant attention at a time when the country >grappled with an oil embargo, long gasoline lines and a president threatened >with impeachment. > >It seemed only right then to protect an array of dwindling birds and animals: >the majestic bald eagle, the powerful grizzly, the picturesque whooping crane, >the condor with 10-foot wingspan and the feared alligator. > >Few realized it also would protect the snail darter, kangaroo rat, Delhi fly, >black-spored quillwort and the much-maligned furbish lousewort (a flowering >plant in Maine). > >When Nixon signed the bill, there were 109 species believed to need >protection. Today there are 1,177 species under the law's umbrella, six of >every 10 of them plants. > >But while the number of protected species has grown dramatically, only a >handful have recovered or are even moving toward recovery. Only 27 species >have been removed from the list and of those 16 disappeared or had been listed >by mistake. > >These numbers have been used by critics as evidence of the law's failure. > >``This law is being judged by its intentions and not by its results,'' argues >Rob Gordon, founder of the National Wilderness Institute, which advocates >property rights. > >But most environmentalists maintain the recovery figures are no accurate >barometer, either. The law, they say, has prevented the disappearance of >hundreds of species and changed public attitudes. > >``It's been the catalyst for a profound change in how we view and treat the >land,'' says Mark Van Putten, president of the National Wildlife Federation. > >Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife and a Senate staffer >when the law was passed, marvels at its vision. It demanded that species be >protected on the basis of science, not politics, and seeks to protect from >ecological harm ``future generations that don't vote today.'' > >In its history, the law has on more than a few occasions raised the blood of >those in its line of sight. > >``It's done violence to property rights,'' says Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, >who considers the law unconstitutional though it's passed Supreme Court muster >a number of times. > >Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., who headed a legislative task force that urged a >top-to-bottom overhaul, sees its reach as ``de facto federal control of >private property.'' > >It was only a few years after its virtual unanimous endorsement by Congress >that the first sign of strife emerged -- in the fight over a Tennessee dam and >the snail darter. > >The Tennessee Valley Authority was building a dam on the Tellico River in 1977 >when the project suddenly was blocked by an endangered species -- the snail >darter -- found in the river. Congress overrode the law and eventually the dam >was finished. > >But no longer was anyone under the delusion that the law was meant to protect >only grizzlies and whooping cranes. > >``It was not the best poster child for the Endangered Species Act,'' says >conservationist Van Putten. The confrontation ``gave an image of an inflexible >act.'' > >In 1982, Congress put flexibility into the law. It allowed landowners or >developers to get a permit for ``incidental'' killing of species or their >habitat on a case-by-case basis. > >Nevertheless, over the years the law began to symbolize to some the worst of >big government. > >In the Northwest the battle was over the spotted owl, an endangered species. >Logging was halted across vast stretches of forest and critics blamed the law >for loss of loggers' jobs. Environmentalists argue the restrictions helped >protect valuable old-growth forests, including the Pacific Yew, whose bark is >valuable in treating certain cancer. > >And when scores of homes were destroyed by wildfires in southern California, >critics said the homes were lost because of the kangaroo rat, which the law >protects. > >Homeowners, the word was, were prevented from cutting down brush near their >homes, feeding the fires. Investigators later said the fires, driven by 80 mph >winds, were so intense they would have destroyed homes even if brush had been >removed. > >Today, along the New Mexico-Arizona border, attempts to reintroduce endangered >Mexican gray wolf have been stymied by what investigators believe is >systematic killing. So far five of the first 11 freed wolves have been shot >and another disappeared. > >And atop Vail Mountain in Colorado, arsonists set fire to three buildings and >ski lifts this fall to protest the loss of habitat for the lynx, a small >bobcat being considered for protection. Although mainstream environmental >groups denounced the fire, a small band of militants claimed responsibility. > >Though not as incendiary, other confrontations dot the landscape: > >In Pennsylvania, concern over the endangered myotis sodalis, known as the >Indiana bat, is blocking a $500 million extension of an interstate highway. > >Monterey, Calif., has yet to learn whether it must pay a developer $1.4 >million because it moved to protect plants that are home to the endangered >Smith Blue butterfly. > >People in west Texas around Lubbock wonder if the black-tailed prairie dog may >soon be added to the endangered list. The rodent seems plentiful in Lubbock, >but environmentalists say it is heading toward extinction. > >Since 1993, Babbitt has sought ways to negotiate with landowners in >contractual agreements that would allow development of land, but still provide >species protection. > >``Without positive incentives, the Act's goals are unlikely to be achieved,'' >says Michael Bean of the Environmental Defense Fund. > >Bean believes fear of the law has prompted landowners to quietly destroy >imperiled species or their habitat when found or -- at the very least -- do >little to promote protection. > >Babbitt's ``habitat conservation plans'' allow landowners to harm some species >and habitat while they use the land. In turn, the landowner agrees to set >aside land and develop plans to protect certain species. > >Currently there are 243 such agreements, covering 6.2 million acres in 16 >states. > >To spur such plans, Babbitt has offered landowners a promise of ``no >surprises'' for the contract's life, meaning no new requirements to protect >additional species in the future. > >Many environmentalists criticize such assurance because of the uncertainties >that might develop years from now. > >But Babbitt argues the plans are a way to avoid train wrecks. ``There is >flexibility and strength in the law,'' he insists, ``and it can be made to >work.'' > >AP-NY-12-26-98 1140EST > > Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. 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