[mou] Endangered Species Act Threatened

[MARTELL, Mark]

A vote will be taken in Congress Thursday that threatens the Endangered =
Species Act.

Birders need to contact their Congressperson, especially Rep. Oberstar =
and Ramstad.

Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA) and other lawmakers are rushing =
through the House of Representatives a bill that would gut the =
Endangered Species Act, our nation's core program aimed at bringing back =
birds and wildlife from the brink of extinction.  Congressman Pombo's =
"Extinction Bill" is scheduled for a vote Thursday. The ESA is the =
reason why we still have the Bald Eagle, the California Condor, the =
peregrine falcon and many other species that faced certain extinction.=20

Representative Pombo's "Extinction Bill" is a radical departure from =
current law that would substantially limit the government's =
responsibility to protect America's most vulnerable birds and wildlife.  =
Pombo's bill would:

	*	Eviscerate habitat protections for endangered species.  Congressman =
Pombo's bill would severely limit the federal government's =
responsibility to protect land it deems crucial to the health of =
endangered species.  The Extinction Bill would give a green light to =
developers, loggers and other special interests to degrade and destroy =
sensitive wildlife habitat.=20

	*	Bankrupt the Endangered Species Act to pay special interests.   Rep. =
Pombo's bill would force the federal government to pay special interests =
when their proposed projects would harm or kill endangered wildlife. =
There is no requirement that the proposed activity be more than =
speculative and there is no limit on the number of times a developer can =
receive compensation for different proposed activities on his or her =
land.  This provision could bankrupt the Endangered Species Act when the =
Fish and Wildlife Service is forced to pay.  =20

	*	Gut protections for threatened species.  The bill would eliminate the =
blanket protection from harm offered for threatened species under =
current regulations and instead require the Fish and Wildlife Service to =
issue a separate regulation for each threatened species.  Many species =
could be stripped of protection.=20

Your help is urgently needed!  We need you to contact your lawmaker to =
let them know that any move to gut the Endangered Species Act is =
unacceptable.  Birds like the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Whooping Crane, =
and California Condor need the protection of this critically important =
conservation law!  Tell Congress that you expect them to uphold the =
Endangered Species Act, for the critically imperiled birds and wildlife =
that can't speak for themselves!




Mark Martell
Director of Bird Conservation
Audubon Minnesota
2357 Ventura Drive #106
St. Paul, MN 55125
651-739-9332
651-731-1330 (FAX)