The U.S. Senate voted mostly along party lines on two resolutions to overturn Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections under the Biden administration on northern long-eared bats and the definition of habitat.
The Senate passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) to roll back the Biden administration’s changes to the definition of habitat under the ESA. In December 2020, the Trump administration finalized a rule that defined the term “habitat” as “the abiotic and biotic setting that currently or periodically contains the resources and conditions necessary to support one or more life processes of a species.” In July 2022, the Biden administration overturned the rule citing it created confusion. It decreased the ability to further the conservation of endangered and threatened species through the designation of their critical habitats.
“Private property owners need to be partners in species recovery, not the enemy,” Lummis said in a statement. “This CRA ensures landowners in the West are not unfairly targeted by the administration and that habitat designations are based on science, not on politics. I’m proud this resolution garnered bipartisan support.”
Joining Republicans on the resolution to reinstate the Trump administration’s definition of habitat were Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Angus King (I-ME).
The second CRA resolution introduced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) would overturn the listing of the northern long-eared bat from threatened to endangered under the ESA.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reclassified the bat in November 2022 due to the impacts of white-nose syndrome, “a deadly disease affecting hibernating bats across North America.”
White-nose syndrome is caused by the growth of a fungus that sometimes looks like white fuzz on bats’ muzzles and wings, causing them to wake up frequently during hibernation resulting in dehydration and starvation.
According to USFWS, the northern long-eared bat resides in 37 states in the eastern and north-central U.S. and contributes $3 billion annually to the U.S. agriculture economy through pest control and pollination.
Sens. Manchin and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) joined Republicans to overturn the USFWS decision. The northern long-eared bat would remain threatened.
Defenders of Wildlife opposed the resolutions collectively with the prior vote to overturn the listing of the lesser prairie chicken stating the use of CRA is alarming.
“The Senate is becoming alarmingly anti-science and anti-wildlife, as evidenced by this legislation which flies in the face of the historic and broad bipartisan support enjoyed by the Endangered Species Act,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.
The Public Lands Council—which opposed the actions of USFWS—said it is “an encouraging sign from Congress” to roll back federal government overreach under the ESA despite opposition from the White House.
“We are in the midst of a global extinction crisis for which the chief driver is the destruction, degradation and loss of habitat,” the White House said in a statement. “In the United States, the Endangered Species Act provides essential protections for plants and animals and the habitat they need to survive and recover. In fact, almost every species that has been protected by the law—now in its 50th year—is still with us today.”
All three CRAs now await a vote on the House floor, having already passed the House Natural Resources Committee. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
