The federal Endangered Species Act – a bane to conservative politicians and property-rights advocates for 34 years – is under attack once more by some quarters in the Bush administration.
Help, however, appears to be on the way as Democratic legislators, environmental groups and some administration officials are trying to rescue the law, designed to protect plants and animals threatened with extinction.
In the past two weeks:
The hearing was prompted by a Washington Post report that Vice President Dick Cheney intervened in a federal decision to withhold Klamath River water from farmers.
Restoring the agriculture water led to lower river levels and a die- off of 70,000 salmon, some species of which are imperiled.
In testimony Tuesday, Mary Kendall, deputy inspector general for the Interior Department, said, in looking into the affair, they had asked staffers about presidential adviser Karl Rove, but not Cheney.
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., told Kendall he was “perplexed by the notion that maybe Dick Cheney did something in the background that you didn’t spot.”
The exchange, some environmentalists said, was emblematic of the Bush administration.
“The corruption of the decisionmaking process and the reach of political appointees in agencies has never been greater,” said Jaime Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Washington, D.C.-based Defenders of Wildlife. “This is really different from the past.”
The Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, has protected animals such as the bald eagle and grizzly bear but also has drawn criticism for impeding development in order to preserve lesser- known species such as the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse.
The Bush administration has added an average of eight species to the endangered-species list each year – nearly all of the inclusions imposed by the courts. None has been listed in the 14 months since Dick Kempthorne was named interior secretary.
By comparison, the Clinton administration added an average of 62 species each year, and George H.W. Bush listed an annual average of 56.
Forest Guardians has filed two petitions with the service to have almost 700 species listed.
“This is an attempt to jump- start a program that has ground to a halt,” said Nicole Rosmarino, the group’s conservation director.
Among the proposed species are 42 in Colorado, including the Great Sand Dunes anthicid beetle, found only in the dunes at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and the Gypsum Valley cateye, a white-and-yellow- flowered desert shrub.
It typically takes at least two years to list a species, said Ann Carlson, the listing coordinator and acting chief for the agency’s office in Denver.
“Because of the limited funding for this agency and for endangered species, we have to prioritize everything we do,” she said. “At the current point in history, almost everything we do is pretty much by court order.”
David Ridenour, vice president of the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research, said the Forest Guardians’ petitions look “more like a stunt than anything else, and it really will divert people’s time and attention.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service on July 20 said it would review eight endangered-species decisions influenced by Julie MacDonald, a former deputy interior secretary. The Preble’s mouse, found on the Front Range, is one of the decisions being reviewed.
MacDonald bullied scientists and rewrote findings, according to an Interior Department inspector general’s report. The Bush appointee resigned in May.
Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall called the incident a “blemish” on the agency’s credibility.
“The Bush administration has been hostile to the Endangered Species Act,” said John Kostyack, director of wildlife conservation for the National Wildlife Federation. “But there is strong political support for the act and a Democratic Congress providing real oversight. The administration may want to change the act, but they don’t have the credibility to change it.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
Colorado species in spotlight
Forest Guardians has filed two petitions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bring almost 700 species, including 42 in Colorado, under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Among the Colorado species are:
Capnia arapahoe, a stone fly
Oreohelix hendersoni, pallid mountain snail
Astragalus hamiltonii, Hamilton’s milk vetch
Astragalus microcybmus, skiff milk vetch
Astragalus schmolliae, Schmoll’s milk vetch
Cryptantha gypsophila, Gypsum Valley cateye
Draba weberi, Weber’s Whitlow grass
Erigeron wilkenii, Wilkens fleabane
Gilia sedifolia, stonecrop gily flower
Hackelia gracilenta, Colorado stickseed
Lomatium latilobum, Canyonlands lomatium
Mimulus gemmiparus, Weber’s monkeyflower
Oreoxis humilis, Pikes Peak spring parsley
Penstemon gibbensii, Gibbens’ beardtongue
Physaria pulvinata, twin pod
Pheidole elecebra, ant
Amblyderus werneri, Great Sand Dunes anthicid beetle
Proctacanthus sp. 1, robber fly
Corispermum navicula, boat-shaped bugseed
Ranunculus coloradensis, Colorado buttercup
Stygobromus coloradensis, a cave obligate amphipod
Stygobromus fontinalis, spring amphipod – a shimplike crustacean
Stygobromus holsingeri, an amphipod
Stygobromus simplex, a simple amphipod
Stygobromus wardi, Ward’s amphipod
Heterocampa rufinans, notodontid moth
Neotrichia downsi, a caddis fly
Brachycercus tuberculatus, a mayfly
Ephemerella apopsis, a mayfly
Blancosoma scaturgo, a cave obligate millipede
Speodesmus aquiliensis, a cave obligate millipede
Eriogonum brandegeei, Brandegee’s wild buckwheat
Lepidium integrifolium, thick-leaf pepperwort
Lygodesmia doloresensis, Dolores River skeleton plant
Cirsium scapanolepsis, mountain-slope thistle
