[MCN] Senators Daines, Tester Introduce Bill Weakening Protections for Endangered Species

[Matthew Koehler]

For Immediate Release, March 15, 2017

Contact: Jamie Pang, (202) 347-3737, jpang at biologicaldiversity.org

Senators Daines, Tester Introduce Bill Weakening Protections for Endangered
Species

*Another Attempt to Overrule Courts and Slow Landscape-level Protections
for Species*

WASHINGTON— A proposed bill in Congress would reverse a 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals decision from 2015 that required agency re-consultation for
federal management plans regarding endangered species. The bill was
introduced Monday by Montana senators Steve Daines, a Republican, and Jon
Tester, a Democrat, joined by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Rep. Collin
Peterson (D-Minn.).

The ‘‘Litigation Relief for Forest Management Projects Act’’ would exempt
the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management from consulting with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service over already approved land-management plans when new species are
protected as endangered or new critical habitat is designated. Such
consultations help ensure that newly protected species are not jeopardized
by ongoing management. A study from 2015
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/12/14/this-study-just-undermined-a-huge-myth-about-the-endangered-species-act/?utm_term=.d63e3a00016f>
showed
that not a single industry project was halted as a result of Section 7
Consultation.

“This bill is just another cynical attack to weaken a key provision of the
Endangered Species Act,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the
Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re deeply disappointed to see Senator
Tester and Representative Peterson once again joining Republican efforts to
undermine the Endangered Species Act. Federal land-management agencies can
— and *should* — make needed updates to plans when new species are
protected.”

The 9th Circuit held in the 2015 *Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v.
U.S. Forest Service*case that the Forest Service had violated the
Endangered Species Act when it failed to reinitiate consultation for a
logging plan after critical habitat on federal lands was designated for the
Canada lynx. The court also, however, held that mere procedural violations
were no longer enough to show irreparable harm and warrant injunctive
relief, meaning that such consultations are not a major impediment to
completing projects with little harm to endangered species. The Forest
Service has also already completed or is near completing consultations over
the lynx, as required by the court, calling into question the need for this
legislation.

“The Forest Service and BLM typically have years of notice before species
or habitat receive protection and have become more proficient at working
with the wildlife agencies to ensure that endangered wildlife aren’t
negatively impacted by logging, mining and other activities,” said
Suckling. “There is just no need for this legislation."



*The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation
organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists
dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild
places.SOURCE: **http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/endangered-species-03-15-2017.php
<http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2017/endangered-species-03-15-2017.php>*
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