U. S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), elevated over more senior Republicans last year to chair the House Resources Committee, is aiming to narrow the scope of the 30-year-old law through a major rewriting, a goal he has pursued since 1995.

At the same time Administration officials continue to use regulatory edicts and legal tactics to inflict what environmentalists describe as "death by a thousand cuts."

Pombo wants to redefine the ESA's scientific criteria to rely more on peer-reviewed literature and make it more difficult to give protection to an individual species, including any already listed as endangered. He also wants to change language in the law to reduce the number of habitats deemed critical for the survival of endangered species.[1]

The Republican-controlled Congress late last year also exempted the Pentagon from having to abide by the ESA when conducting training exercises on millions of acres that are home to hundreds of rare species.[2]

Meanwhile, the Bush Administration is conducting a low-profile but systematic strategy to reduce the effectiveness of the ESA. In December the Interior Department finalized a ruling that allows logging operations to move forward without any consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that administers the ESA.[3] The Administration is also working to enable the use of new pesticides without input from Fish and Wildlife Service experts.[4]

In another broad attempt to weaken the law the Administration tried to give landowners an exemption in cases where unforeseen circumstances threaten an endangered species, a policy since reversed by a federal judge.[5]

The Administration has also abandoned standard efforts to help some specific creatures survive. It decided to lift protection from the cactus pygmy owl in Arizona, although only 30 birds are left, and to allow the extinction of orcas in Puget Sound on the theory their deaths would be meaningless to the species as a whole. A plan to reintroduce the gray wolf to New England forests was also dropped.[6] All three cases are now in court.

In another case the Administration has ignored a court order to find refuge for the Florida manatee.[7]

"The pattern one vividly sees when examining the Bush Administration's record under the Endangered Species Act is a general reluctance to obey the law, and then an expensive and time-consuming effort to cover the federal violator's tracks once sued," says William Snape, vice-president and chief counsel for Defenders of Wildlife.

President Bush has appointed crusading opponents of the ESA to key positions, including Craig Manson, the assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, who told the Los Angeles Times in an interview: "If we are saying that the loss of species in and of itself is inherently bad, I don't think we know enough about how the world works to say that."[8]

Currently the Administration is proposing to create a gigantic loophole that might push many species in other countries into extinction. Under the proposal, hunters would be able to kill elephants and other "trophy" animals; wildlife traders, circuses and the pet industry would be permitted to capture rare birds from the Amazon (or other species of endangered foreign wildlife) as an economic boost to cash-strapped countries.

Ivory tusks, skins and antlers could also be imported.[9] Environmentalists have criticized the Bush proposal as an invitation to the return of large-scale poaching.

The ESA lists 1,363 U. S. plant and animal species and 558 foreign and animal species as threatened or endangered. Since taking office, the administration has listed no additional species on its own accord.[10]

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SOURCES:
[1] "Pombo Takes Piecemeal Path on Species Act," Associated Press via Newsday, Jan. 12, 2004.
[2] "Military Wins OK on Endangered Species," Associated Press, Nov. 7, 2003.
[3] "Endangered Act in trouble ; Both supporters and critics agree species protection measure needs overhaul," Scripps Howard News Service via Knoxville News Sentinel, Dec. 23, 2003.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] "Wildlife Activists Lash Out at Bush," United Press International, Dec. 3, 2003.
[8] "The State; Species Protection Act 'Broken'," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 14, 2003.
[9] "Bush Undoes a Century of Progress," Times Union (Albany), Oct. 19, 2003.
[10] "Sabotaging the Endangered Species Act," Defenders of Wildlife report.