A bill that would limit the protections provided by the Endangered Species Act was pulled from the House floor Wednesday, which just so happened to be Earth Day.
Opponents of the law have long felt that it’s a stark example of the federal government over regulating. According to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., the original law “consistently failed to achieve its intended goals” and its very character morphed “into a weapon instead of a tool.”
“With the reforms we are introducing today, we can look forward to a future where the ESA works to support the continued abundance of America’s rich and diverse wildlife,” Westerman said in a statement while introducing the legislation last month.
Several Florida House members, though, wavered in support of the bill, citing concerns over certain provisions, according to The New York Times.
One would carve out protections for various regions based on specific activities, such as the exemption off-shore drilling received from the Trump administration late last month. One Florida Republican told the Times that she had serious concerns about what that could mean for her home state’s ample coastline.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., took to social media to voice her opposition posting on X, “Protected means protected.” Her post included a reimagining of the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, with a sea turtle in place of a snake.
Activists who had mobilized efforts to oppose the bill celebrated it being pulled from the docket.
“Given the more than 58,000 emails sent to elected officials, along with hundreds — if not thousands — of calls made in just the past few days, it is clear that the American people support the Endangered Species Act, understand its value, and want its protections for threatened and endangered wildlife to remain in place,“ Jewel Tomasula, the policy director for the Endangered Species Coalition, said in a statement.
”This is a welcome sign that efforts to gut protections for imperiled species are not moving forward on Earth Day … This Congress should leave the ESA alone.”
What does the bill seek to do?
Westerman’s bill had many provisions and addressed many different parts of the Endangered Species Act. Its big picture efforts would be to place timelines on recovery efforts and push species management back to the states where those animals live.
It’s a position some legislators in the West have held for a long time.
Last fall Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., introduced legislation to delist the gray wolf and Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., introduced another bill that would delist the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem spanning 22 million acres of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Hageman told the Deseret News last fall that, “It is time for Congress to step forward … We do not need to do what courts do, which is ignore the science, ignore the history, ignore the purpose of the act, etc. We can step in and delist, and that’s what the purpose of this bill is.”
Westerman’s bill has a large scope and would require federal agencies to establish “objective, incremental recovery goals for threatened species” and “provide regulatory relief” once those goals are reached. At that point, it would require those agencies to hand over the recovery management to the states where those species live.
In addition, the measure would force land-use agencies to act on five-year review determinations for listed species and prevent judicial review — no lawsuits — five years after a species is delisted.
Also, it would prevent federal agencies from creating regulations “aimed at reducing the mere potential impact on a species.”
After the bill was pulled, Westerman told the Times that, “We just have a few provisions we’ve got to work through on it, and hopefully in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be able to vote on it.”
For now, those opposed to the bill found something to cheer about.
“Now we can really celebrate Earth Day!” Mary Beth Beetham, legislative director of Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement.
“The public defeat of the Westerman bill is a direct result of sustained constituent pressure. Congress is finally listening to the majority of Americans who support the Endangered Species Act. … While there is still much more work to secure lasting protections for wildlife, today’s outcome is a meaningful victory for conservation.”
