The Endangered Species Act has protected hundreds of species from extinction, as well as contributed to population increases and the recovery of species like the peregrine falcon. But now the Bush administration has proposed weakening this historic legislation by allowing any federal agency to decide for itself whether or not protected species would be threatened by projects such as roads, dams, or mines.Many federal agencies do not have the scientific expertise needed to determine when species need protection. For decades, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists have provided critical analysis of the consequences of federal projects for endangered species. The proposed changes cut these scientists out of the process.
Congress must step in to prevent these changes before they go into effect—possibly as soon as September 15. Please call immediately and urge your representative to stop these eleventh hour changes from going through.
Help UCS advocate for this critical issue by providing us with more details about your call. Simply click "Report Back" to get helpful tips for making your call and report back to us about the response you received. Any information you can provide on how your representative is responding to this issue will help us protect the Endangered Species Act.
Sincerely,
Michael Halpern
National Field Organizer
Scientific Integrity Program
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What's At Stake:
According to press reports, these new regulations were drafted behind closed doors with little or no input from endangered species biologists. Furthermore, the public has been given only 30 days to comment on the changes before they are finalized. The Associated Press has reported that the proposed regulations were not even shown to expert federal scientists, but instead were written by attorneys in the Departments of Commerce and the Interior. More...
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