For Immediate Release:
Friday, September 23, 2005

WASHINGTON D.C - U.S. Representative Dan Boren voted yesterday to reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA) during a markup of the House Committee on Resources, of which Boren is a member.  The Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act is aimed at solving the long-standing problems of the ESA by giving property owners more say in the process of species recovery and by creating incentives for species protection on private lands.

 

“In its original form, the ESA is a law that sounds good and looks good on paper, but has failed in application.  If we are going to make the ESA work, we need to enlist the help of property owners and local officials, not work against them,” Boren explained. 

 

“Many communities in Oklahoma’s Second District have been impacted negatively by efforts to protect the American Burying Beetle.  This legislation would give community leaders and land owners a much greater voice in the process,” Boren told the committee.

 

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, only 10 of the roughly 1,300 species on the ESA’s list have recovered since its enactment in 1973. After more than three decades of implementation, Boren says the ESA needs to be updated.  “It has become ineffective and an obstacle to economic growth,” the Boren said. 

 

“Rather than achieving its goals, the law has caused an inordinate amount of conflict and litigation - hurting family farmers and landowners by limiting the use of their property unnecessarily,” Boren argues.  “We need to turn these unintended consequences into real cooperative conservation,” Boren added.

 

The legislation that Boren is supporting would not only create incentives to encourage property owners to participate in conservation, but it would also require compensation for land owners effected by decisions made under federal law.  The funds would be administered through grant programs. 

 

The Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act passed the House Committee on Resources and awaits consideration in the House and Senate.

####