Last week I received a note from a fellow animal and wildlife activist regarding the Bush Administration’s plan to overhaul the Endangered Species Act. John Kostyack, Executive Director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming at the National Wildlife Federation is warning that the administrations planned changes will not only be damaging to wildlife but also disregards science. In an article from August 11, Kostyack said,
“The cumulative impact of these changes equals a full blown attack on America’s premier conservation law. We owe it to future generations to stop this attack and continue our legacy of protecting wildlife on the brink of extinction.”
Planned amendments to the Endangered Species Act remove biologists and environmental consultants from the federal process of building roads, logging, mining, and filling wetlands. Basically, whoever oversees federal projects (not a scientist or environmental consultant) will decide whether or not endangered species and habitats will be threatened by such projects. To read the full list of proposed regulations, click here.
The Bush Administration wants to extract professional wildlife consultants and replace them with their own political agenda.
It is not the first time the Bush Administration has taken actions against the Endangered Species Act. To read about previous violations, go here, here, and here.
To take action against the Bush Administration’s plans to gut the Endangered Species Act, send a message to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to let him know you will not stand for the weakening of endangered species protections. For a sample letter at the National Wildlife Federation, please visit Speak Up for Wildlife.
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