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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articleheadline><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Pombo bill questioned<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articleheadline><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articleheadline><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.paradisepost.com/Stories/0,1413,292~30282~3076814,00.html">http://www.paradisepost.com/Stories/0,1413,292~30282~3076814,00.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=articlebyline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>By Jeremy Walsh - </span></font></span>Paradise Post <span
class=articlebyline>Staff Writer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Land-rights activists are cheering and environmentalists are lamenting
the passage of a bill in the House of Representatives that would significantly
alter the landmark Endang-ered Species Act of 1973. The bill, authored
Congressman Richard Pombo (R-Tracy) and known as the Threatened and Endangered
Species Recovery Act of 2005, was passed in the House on Thursday, 229-193.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
The reform bill would eliminate the "critical habitat" requirement
which establishes areas protected from encroachment by federal agencies when a
species is listed as endangered. The bill requires "recovery plans"
for species instead, which would have to be developed within two years. The
habitat designated in these recovery plans would not be protected from federal
actions.<br>
Supporters of the bill say "critical habitat" isn't as critical as
some make it out to be. State Sen. Sam Aanestad (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">R-Grass</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>),
who represents the Ridge, believes the elimination of this term is the most
important part of the bill.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
"Studies from the American Land Rights Association have concluded that,
for many species such as the northern spotted owl, habitat designation is
completely irrelevant to recovery," he wrote in a letter to the San
Francisco Chronicle. "This change would not only protect private-property
rights, it is also a great boost to species recovery."<br>
According to Aanestad's spokes-man Bill Bird, that "great boost"
comes not from the removal of the "critical habitat" requirement, but
from the incentive the bill would offer to landowners to help with recovery.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
"It rewards property owners who take part in the species recovery
process," Bird said, adding currently the federal government does not take
input from landowners, state or local government, and simply seizes the land.<br>
"The owner is the best steward of the land," Bird said. "The
owner has direct stake in his or her land therefore they are going to care for
that land. When the owner is presented with opportunity and incentive to
protect a species, it's only logical that a property owner would say, 'Of
course. What do you want me to do?'"<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
Many environmentalists disagree.<br>
"It's a big cash payoff for greedy developers," said De-fenders of
Wildlife Vice Presi-dent of Communications Cathy Hoffman. "It requires the
federal government to pay taxpayer dollars to developers not to kill endangered
species."<br>
Hoffman also said the bill puts no limits on those payments.<br>
"I don't know where the federal government's going to get that kind of
money," she said. "There's never been a law out there that has
required taxpayers to pay land owners to comply with a law. It sets a dangerous
and terrible precedent."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
Defenders of Wildlife warns the bill would repeal critical habitat without
providing adequate assurances that habitat necessary for recovery would be
protected.<br>
They also claim it would ease requirements on federal agencies to ensure their
actions do not jeopardize endangered plants or animals and cut wildlife experts
out of the loop in determining whether agency actions would harm endangered
species.<br>
The bill would also enable landowners with development plans to proceed with
land development if the interior secretary does not answer their questions
about whether their development would harm protected species within 180 days
(with a 180-day extension possible).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
Congressman Wally Herger, who represents <st1:place w:st="on">Paradise</st1:place>
(& Trinity Co.), voted in favor of the bill, noting his advocacy for
establishing a precedent for human safety before endangered species.<br>
"Our Northern California congressional district has been 'ground zero' for
many tragic events resulting from an outdated and inflexible ESA, including the
Arboga levee break and the Klamath Basin water shut-off of 2001," he said
in a press release. "These tragedies helped demonstrate the inflexibility
of the current ESA and the critical need for substantial reform. (Thursday's)
House passage of comprehensive ESA reform represents a tremendous victory in
the fight to bring common sense to this well-intentioned but seriously flawed
law."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
The bill includes a provision based on Herger's Species Rescue Act, which was
introduced after a levee break in Arboga, south of Marysville, in 1997. This
provision requires the interior secretary to waive or streamline the ESA when
human health, safety or property is threatened. Herger's press secretary Darin
Thacker cited a Washington state forest fire near the Chewuch River in July
2001 that killed four firefighters as another example of unfortunate ESA
restrictions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
An investigative team re-leased a report stating a firefighting helicopter had
been unable to draw water from the river for several hours "partially due
to a lack of clearance related to the Endangered Species Act," though the
report listed the delay as an "influencing" rather than a direct
"causal" factor in the deaths. Now the bill will face scrutiny in the
Senate, which may review it in the upcoming two months. At least one member,
Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) has expressed concerns about the removal of the
"critical habitat" designation.<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The writer can be reached at jwalsh@paradisepost.com. </span></font><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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