300 NGO and Environmental Orgs Demand via Joint Letter Ntl. Guvs Assoc. Protect Endangered Species Act - EnviroNews | The Environmental News Specialists

300 NGO and Environmental Orgs Demand via Joint Letter Ntl. Guvs Assoc. Protect Endangered Species Act

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(EnviroNews Headline News Desk) — Washington D.C. — On Feb. 23, 2017, a coalition of almost 300 NGO, environment, conservation and social justice groups concerned with the now uncertain future of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) sent a letter to the National Governors Association (NGA). The letter was sent to the NGA before their annual winter meeting held Feb. 24-27.

The document explains why the ESA is important and successful and how the current changes proposed by Republican lawmakers and the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) will undermine, if not completely prevent, the ability of the ESA to function. The governors are called upon to “maintain the statutory integrity” of the ESA in the face of these new political threats.

For example, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) recently held a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) to discuss the “modernization” of the Act and the species de-listing process. In response, the letter shares that the ESA has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the species under its care. While Barrasso feels species are not being de-listed quickly enough, biologists say it’s a known fact that species can take decades to recover.

“700 species, nearly half of those protected under the Act, have been protected for less than 20 years… many species are recovering at the pace expected by scientists and conservationists at the state and federal wildlife agencies,” the organizations point out in the letter.

The organizations also use this correspondence to specifically caution the NGA against the WGA’s agenda. The WGA’s 2016 resolution called for amendments to the ESA’s de-listing process and sought to increase state power over ESA regulations. The WGA also questioned the inclusion of climate change as a determining factor for listing species, saying the ESA may not be “equipped” to address this “potential threat.”

The letter mentions that House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said he wants to completely repeal the ESA. Another focus of this collaborative statement to the NGA is a current case in federal court, in which Utah landowners seek to end protections for species that only live in one state.

“If the National Governors Association wants to find bipartisan solutions to improving wildlife conservation, advocating for increased federal funding for conservation would be the right path to follow, not policy changes to the law that would weaken the scientific foundations of the Act,” the groups further explain in the letter.

The communiqué’ is shared on the Center for Biological Diversity’s website and is signed by nearly 300 environmental and civil rights groups including Earthjustice, the Endangered Species Coalition, the Humane Society, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NDRC).

An in-depth EnviroNews Nature report on the recent Senate committee meeting on the ESA can be found just below:

Republicans Lick Chops While Revving Up To Dismantle The Endangered Species Act

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READ THE OFFICIAL LETTER AND SEE ALL OF THE NEARLY 300 ORGANIZATIONS THAT SIGNED

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