Earlier this year, we blogged about the need to modernize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) following the introduction of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ). One of our reasons for supporting that particular bill was because it incentivizes landowners to help protect species from being put on the ESA list by codifying specific rules and regulations to respect private property rights.
Last month, similar legislation was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), held a hearing on the subject and the merits of S. 4589, Endangered Species Act Amendments Act of 2020.
In addition to increasing funding and incentives for the voluntary conservation and recovery of species, Barrasso’s bill is focused on strengthening partnerships between states, tribes, and landowners in carrying out the implementation of the ESA.
Currently, states often find themselves encumbered by the 1970s-era litigation-driven model, which has resulted in frivolous claims that neglect the interests of local communities while failing to save species that are on the brink of extinction. Importantly, Barrasso’s bill includes a five-year moratorium on litigation after a recovered species is delisted to allow that population to be monitored and managed. But it does not fundamentally eliminate any citizen’s right to challenge a delisting rule in federal court, as opponents of the bill have claimed.
“The states have proven time and time again they are committed to and capable of managing wildlife within their borders,” said Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon during the hearing. “They should be given the chance to do so for delisted species without the threat of endless and costly lawsuits that in the end do not benefit the species in question.”
Under the legislation, states, rather than the federal government, would be empowered to lead recovery planning, implementation planning, recovery teams, and implementation teams. It recognizes that those who actually live and work on land shared with endangered species are in fact the best stewards. The bill also allows federal agencies to consider certain voluntary conservation measures as regulatory mechanisms under the ESA and incentivizes such efforts. In the old model, property owners have had to think of listed species as liabilities due to the existing punitive restrictions on property use—if these amendments take effect, they will be perceived as assets.
The bill would also integrate a prioritization system that makes determinations based on the urgency of a species’ circumstances, conservation efforts, and available data and information.
Over 80 percent of listed species occur partially or entirely on private lands, with hundreds more being considered for listing. This simple fact demonstrates why private property owners are so integral to the solution.
Since the ESA was signed into law, fewer than 3 percent of listed species have been recovered and delisted, so there is much room for improvement if states, tribes, and landowners are empowered. The ESA has not been reauthorized since 1992, and it has often been underfunded—another flaw that Barrasso’s bill addresses by increasing the authorization of appropriations by approximately 15 percent over currently appropriated levels.