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Defenders Magazine
On the Ground: Taking a Stand for Endangered Species
A new Congressional session is now under way in Washington, and many legislators have set their sights on one of the nation’s most hallowed pieces of environmental legislation: the Endangered Species Act.
A group of powerful anti-environmental lawmakers are seeking to roll back the Endangered Species Act and, with it, more than three decades of progress in safeguarding endangered animals and plants. To counter this attack, Defenders of Wildlife is organizing a major pledge drive to demonstrate public support for conserving species on the brink of extinction.
In the last Congressional session, two bills in the House of Representatives targeted the Endangered Species Act. One, the Critical Habitat Reform Act, introduced by Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-California), would effectively eliminate most habitat protection for listed species. The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oregon), would dictate the kinds of science that can be used and layer on ever increasing amounts of red tape that will slow down species protection efforts. These bills, or worse, will be back in the new Congress.
Endangered Species Conservation Pledge
WHEREAS, our nation has a long and proud tradition of respect for our wildlife and natural resources, and
WHEREAS, we have a responsibility to our children and future generations to be good stewards of our environment and to leave behind a legacy of protecting endangered species and the special places that are their homes, and
WHEREAS, the strength and vitality of our society is inextricably linked with the health of all species and the places they live, and
WHEREAS, for more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has effectively served as the nation’s safety net for wildlife, saving hundreds of plants and animals from extinction, putting hundreds more on the path to recovery, and safeguarding the habitats on which they all depend,
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, PLEDGE to uphold the Endangered Species Act so it may continue to protect America’s imperiled wildlife from the finality of extinction.
Conservationists believe that it is possible to improve the functioning of the Endangered Species Act, but argue that these two bills would merely gut the act and reduce species protections.
“We think the Endangered Species Act could be more effective in achieving its primary mission—the recovery of threatened and endangered species,” says Defenders President Rodger Schlickeisen. “But with the anti-environmentalists in charge like never before, we are likely to see even more attacks from the act’s opponents in Congress.”
Enter Defenders of Wildlife’s “Endangered Species Conservation Pledge.” Defenders is seeking 100,000 signatures on the pledge (below) to circulate among politicians and the press to stop efforts to gut the Endangered Species Act. Signing the pledge is an important step that citizens can take to insure that funds are devoted to, and that protections remain for, rare plants and animals.
Please go to www.saveesa.org for more information, or to sign an electronic version of the pledge.
