At a July 17 U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing to consider amending the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead both endorsed giving states more authority to help enforce the act based on recommendations by the Western Governors Association (WGA).
“Even the U.S. Constitution has been amended more recently than the Endangered Species Act.” — Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
Barrasso, who chairs the committee, noted at the hearing’s outset that the ESA enacted by Congress in 1973 has not been significantly amended since 1988 and needs to be modernized. “Even the U.S. Constitution has been amended more recently than the Endangered Species Act,” he remarked.
Barrasso stressed that the act’s major goal is recovery of endangered species to the point that their protection under the statute is no longer needed.
“Since the Endangered Species Act was signed into law, only 54 out of 2,393 species listed in the United States and foreign countries have been de-listed because they have recovered. That’s less than 3 percent,” Wyoming’s junior U.S. senator said.
“When it comes to the Endangered Species Act, the status quo is not good enough. We must do more than just list species and leave them on life support, but that’s what we’re doing now.” — Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
“Now as a doctor if I admit 100 patients to the hospital and only three recover enough under my treatment to be discharged … I would deserve to lose my medical license with numbers like that. When it comes to the Endangered Species Act, the status quo is not good enough. We must do more than just list species and leave them on life support, but that’s what we’re doing now.”
Since the ESA was enacted 45 years ago, the capacity of state wildlife agencies has grown significantly, Barrasso said. According to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, states now spend more than $5.6 billion on conservation and employ about 240,000 people and volunteers, including 50,000 employees. Among the employees, more than 11,000 are wildlife biologists with degrees, more than 10,000 are wildlife law enforcement officers, and 6,000 employees hold advanced education degrees.
By contrast, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service combined employ only 11,660. “So, the substantial resources of states are not located in Washington, D.C. These state agencies are in the field every day working to protect wildlife,” Barrasso said.
He praised Mead’s leadership for identifying opportunities to modernize the ESA when Mead chaired the WGA, which consists of 19 western states and three U.S. territories. This year Mead launched the WGA’s Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act initiative, which Barrasso said enhanced dialogue of stakeholders from across the political spectrum, resulting in three annual reports and adoption of WGA’s policy resolution and recommendations.
Earlier this month Barrasso released a “discussion draft bill” that would amend the ESA this year based on WGA principles and policies. Delaware U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, ranking Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said Democrats could not support all of the proposed amendments and said 31 states not included in the WGA were excluded from providing input on the draft legislation.
Barrasso mentioned that he received a supportive letter from WGA’s chair and vice chair—one a Republican, the other a Democrat—commending the committee’s efforts to address “this polarizing topic in an inclusive, thoughtful manner.” Two committee hearings last year heard testimony from a diverse group of witnesses, panelists and fish and wildlife directors from across the country, he said.
All acknowledged that the ESA could work better, and many believed that the foundation established by the WGA was a good starting point for modernizing the act, Barrasso said.
He explained that the discussion draft bill:
• Elevates the role of states in partnering with the federal government to implement the ESA;
• Affords states the opportunity to lead wildlife conservation efforts, including the establishment of recovery teams for listed species;
• Provides for increased regulatory certainty so stakeholders have incentives to enter into voluntary conservation and recovery activities;
• Increases transparency; and
• Codifies a system for prioritizing species listing petitions so limited resources flow to the species most in need.
More than 100 organizations have written the committee to express support for modernizing the ESA, Barrasso said.
Mead said he has witnessed some of the ESA’s greatest successes, including the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets in eight states, Canada, and Mexico. In 1987, only 18 of them existed on a ranch near Meeteetse, WY.
He also cited the saving of 136 grizzly bears that existed in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in 1975. More than 700 bears now inhabit an area the size of New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut combined since they were de-listed in 2017.
“I have also witnessed some of the ESA’s greatest failings,” Mead said, noting it took five lawsuits and 15 years to de-list a recovered gray wolf population in Wyoming. Grizzlies are embroiled in litigation for the second time. Canada Lynx were listed 18 years ago, but still have no discernible path to recovery.
“Nearly 30 percent of all listed species have no recovery plan and litigation dictates U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service priorities and work load,” he added, noting bills are before Congress to prevent listing greater sage grouse and lesser prairie chickens for 10 years.
“In my experience, cooperation and collaboration yield better results than bitter partisanship and harsh rhetoric,” Mead said. — Mark Mendiola, WLJ correspondent
