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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><font
size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-weight:bold'>House
passes ESA overhaul <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/09/30/news/top_stories/top2.txt">http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/09/30/news/top_stories/top2.txt</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Published
September 30, 2005<br>
<br>
Combined local, wire reports <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The U.S. House
passed legislation Thursday that could rewrite the Endangered Species Act.<br>
<br>
The bill would greatly expand private property rights under the law that has
been credited with helping keep the bald eagle from extinction but which also
has provoked bitter fights over land use.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>By a vote of
229-193, lawmakers approved a top-to-bottom overhaul of the 1973 act, perhaps
the nation's most powerful environmental law. The law has led to contentious
battles over species such as the northern spotted owl, the snail darter and the
red-legged frog.<br>
<br>
It was also blamed for the federal cutoff of irrigation water to the Klamath
Reclamation Project at the start of the 2001 growing season.<br>
<br>
The Bureau of Reclamation withheld water from farmers that year to protect threatened
coho salmon in the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">lower Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> and endangered sucker fish in <st1:place w:st="on">Upper
Klamath Lake</st1:place>.<br>
<br>
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, a Republican whose district includes Klamath and <st1:place
w:st="on">Lake</st1:place> counties, is a co-sponsor of the bill. He came to <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Klamath Falls</st1:place></st1:City> on Sept.
19, where he announced the bill at a rally.<br>
<br>
Walden was the only one of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>'s
five House representatives to vote for the bill. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Peter
DeFazio, Darlene Hooley and David Wu voted against it. All four are Democrats.<br>
<br>
Walden was unavailable for comment when called by the Herald and News Thursday
evening.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Rep. Wally Herger,
whose Northern California district includes the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
praised the bill.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Our Northern
California congressional district has been ground zero for many tragic events
from an outdated and inflexible ESA, including ... the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
water shut-off of 2001," Herger said in a statement distributed Thursday.<br>
<br>
The rewrite faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Republican Sen.
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, head of the panel that oversees the law, has
expressed concerns about the House bill.<br>
<br>
The bill would require the government to compensate property owners if steps to
protect species thwart development plans. It also would make political
appointees responsible for some scientific determinations and would stop the
government from designating ''critical habitat,'' which can limit development.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The changes were
pushed through by the chairman of the House Resources Committee, Rep. Richard
Pombo, R-Calif. The <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
rancher contends the current rules unduly burden landowners and lead to costly
lawsuits while doing too little to save plants and animals.<br>
<br>
''You've got to pay when you take away somebody's private property. That is
what we have to do,'' Pombo told House colleagues. ''The only way this is going
to work is if we bring in property owners to be part of the solution and to be
part of recovering those species.''<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Many Democrats and
moderate Republicans said Pombo's bill would eliminate important protections
for species and clear the way for large handouts from the government to
property owners.<br>
<br>
The bill sets a ''dangerous precedent that private individuals must be paid to
comply with an environmental law,'' said Rep. Nick Rahall of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">West Virginia</st1:place></st1:State>, the committee's top Democrat.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>''What's next?
Paying citizens to wear seat belts? ... This bill will not improve species'
ability to recover,'' he said.<br>
<br>
A White House statement on Thursday supported the bill. But it noted that
payments to private property owners could have a ''significant'' impact on the
budget.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Congressional
Budget Office estimated that those payments would run less than $20 million a
year. The bill's opponents predicted a much higher total.<br>
<br>
The Fish and Wildlife Service says there are 1,268 threatened and endangered
plants and animals in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. About a dozen have gone off the list
over the years after they were determined to have recovered; nine have become
extinct.<br>
<br>
Opponents of the existing law said the numbers show it's not working, while
supporters say the same figures show it's successful because it is keeping
species alive.<br>
<br>
Pombo's bill would:<br>
<br>
n Eliminate critical habitat. That is area now required to be designated when a
species is listed and is protected from adverse actions by federal agencies.
Instead, ''recovery plans'' for species, including designation of habitat,
would have to be developed within two years. The recovery plans would not have
regulatory force and the habitat would not be protected from federal actions.<br>
<br>
n Specify that landowners with development plans are due answers from the
interior secretary within 180 days, with a 180-day extension possible, about
whether the development would harm protected species. If the government fails
to respond in time, the development could go forward. If the government blocks
the development, the landowner would be paid the fair market value of the
proposed development.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Symbol><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Symbol'>·</span></font> Give the interior secretary the job of
determining what constitutes appropriate scientific data for decision-making
under the law.<br>
<br>
An alternative from a group of Democrats and moderate Republicans would have
strengthened the recovery plans, eliminated the payments to landowners for
blocked developments and created a scientific advisory board to assist the
interior secretary. The proposal failed by a 216-206 vote.<br>
<br>
On the Net: Endangered Species Act: <a
href="http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa.html" target="_blank">http://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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