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Richard Pombo is at it Again

Richard Pombo is at it Again

While people were still reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Congressman introduced legislation that would severely undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and punch loopholes in the law on behalf of greedy developers, oil companies, and other special interests. Ironically called the "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act of 2005," the legislation seeks to undermine decades of good conservation science. Representative Pombo claims that there is no proof that the ESA has worked but that is clearly not the case.

A new study by conservation biologists, reported in the June issue of the scientific journal Natural History, indicates that the longer a jeopardized species has been protected under the Endangered Species Act, the more likely it is to have increased its numbers. In addition, species with protected critical habitat are more likely to be showing improvements than those without designated critical habitat.

The success of the Endangered Species Act is undeniable. Natural History reported that just 22 of the 1,370 species listed since 1964 have gone extinct. That's a 98.4% success rate! Without the Endangered Species Act, 227 species would likely have been lost forever, the biologists found. Because of the Endangered Species Act, only nine out of the 1800 animals protected by the Act have been declared extinct. Rep. Pombo's legislation would put an end to that astonishing record of success.

For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has worked to save the rarest members of America's wildlife heritage, including helping to rescue the gray whale from extinction. Yet in spite of polls that show that nearly 90 percent of Americans support the act, rewriting the Endangered Species Act is a "top priority" for the Resources Committee, according to Chairman Pombo.

Last year, Rep. Pombo failed in his attempt to pass legislation that would have virtually eliminated protections for endangered species habitat, as well as politicized and weakened the science that underlies these protections. This year, it looks as if he may be going for an even bigger prize: reducing the effectiveness of the law in nearly all of its aspects, including habitat protections and science, potentially erasing the law itself, and eradicating within a decade all existing protections for threatened and endangered species.

Twenty-five endangered and threatened species live within the borders of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary including endangered blue and humpback whales. Many marine mammals, sea turtles and fisheries are also protected under the Act.

We must act to protect these species from the threat posed by this proposed legislation. The Endangered Species Act is the nation's most important wildlife protection law. It is a safety net for plants and animals on the brink of extinction, and it enjoys wide public support.

Take action now to express your disapproval of this flagrant assault on endangered species.