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***NEWS***

*U.S. Representative C.L. "Butch" Otter*

*First District - Idaho*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 14, 2005

CONTACT: Mark Warbis

[www.house.gov/otter/]{.underline}

\(208\) 336-9831/866-0840

# NOW IS THE TIME TO FIX A BROKEN LAW

###### ***COMMON SENSE, ECONOMIC REALITY DEMAND ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT REFORMS***

### By Congressman C.L. "Butch" Otter

The Endangered Species Act is broken. That no longer is debatable. There
are differing views on just why it went wrong. But the fact remains that
while it has been a financial windfall for some environmental
organizations and far too many lawyers, it has utterly failed as public
policy by every measure of achievement or perception.

For many folks here in Idaho, the Endangered Species Act is a daily part
of our lives. Whether we are farmers or ranchers, loggers or mill
workers, builders or homebuyers, hunters or anglers, government
employees or private citizens, this is a law that hits us where we live.
After all, almost two-thirds of Idaho is federal land. That leaves
precious little area for growth, and a steadily increasing potential for
conflicts as our population expands into more areas of previously open
space.

Of course, we all know about extensive efforts to restore Idaho salmon
and steelhead runs, the "reintroduction" of Canadian gray wolves to
central Idaho a decade ago, and such high-profile species as whooping
cranes, the woodland caribou and the grizzly bear. But many Idahoans
also have become painfully familiar over the years with such
lesser-known species as McFarlane's four o'clock and the Bruneau Hot
Springsnail, the water howellia and the Kootenai River white sturgeon.

The ESA has become a wasteful, senseless government juggernaut that does
far more harm to people than the precious little good it does for plants
and animals.

However, there is good news. At no time in the 31-year history of the
Endangered Species Act have we had a better opportunity to fix it, to
make real and reasonable changes refocusing on the law's original intent
of species recovery while factoring in the one species most affected by
its misuse - human beings.

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo has an aggressive
agenda in the 109^th^ Congress for meaningful ESA reforms that seek to
improve on the abysmal record of less than 1-percent recovery for the
more than 1,300 species that have been listed as endangered or
threatened. Just as importantly, Chairman Pombo wants to ensure that the
law respects property rights and recognizes the essential role of
private landowners and local conservation efforts in species recovery.

It might be an unduly optimistic assessment, but it seems we may be on
the verge of common sense actually winning out in Washington, D.C., for
once. The number of reform supporters joining Congressman Mike Simpson
and me in the House is bigger than it was last year, and Idaho Senators
Larry Craig and Mike Crapo lead a strong Senate contingent ready for
long-overdue changes.

Most importantly, President Bush and his administration are showing very
positive signs of understanding the magnitude of this issue in the West.
The White House seems legitimately willing to listen to the folks with
the most at stake in ESA decisions - local stewards of the land who care
more about results than bureaucratic processes, and people who
appreciate that government does not have all the answers.

Chairman Pombo put it well in assessing the need to fix the law: "It
must be updated and strengthened to focus on results for species
recovery or it will continue to be an unsustainable program that checks
species in, but never checks them out."

Among the reform priorities that will be considered in the House:

> • ***Provide Incentives for Stewardship***: Because America's
> endangered species reside mostly on private lands, Congress must take
> steps to invest landowners in their recovery and avoid the unintended
> consequences of today's litigation-driven process.
>
> • ***Establish Scientific Standards***: Setting well-defined standards
> of peer-reviewed science for such regulatory decisions as listings or
> critical habitat designations will be instrumental in reducing the
> incidence of data error and focusing the allocation of scarce
> resources on the species, and habitat areas, most in need of
> attention.
>
> • ***Focus on Recovery***: The law must place greater emphasis on
> recovery actions than on the bureaucratic listing process. It must
> encourage the use of innovative approaches to increase species
> populations, and greater collaboration with state, local and
> especially private recovery efforts.

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