Liberty
Matters News Service
June 9, 2004
Ronald Reagan
1911 -
2004
"When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will
leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for
its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my
life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." The
Lord has called home His good and faithful servant and America and the world
mourn his passing. Ronald Reagan was an unabashed conservative who believed in
limited government, justice and liberty for all. His tax cuts revived a limping
economy, leading to an unprecedented economic surge and his shrewd foreign
policy led to the end of the "evil empire." "Tear down this wall, Mr.
Gorbachev." His firm belief in private property rights led him to formulate a
remarkable document, Executive Order 12630, which laid out rules for government
agencies and departments to follow when contemplating regulations that could
negatively impact private property. EO 12630 ordered that agencies and
departments must carefully evaluate the results of federal licensing,
permitting, or other condition requirement limitations on private property use
to avoid unnecessary takings. EO 12630 has never been rescinded, although
government agencies today seem blissfully unaware of its existence. A bit of
Reagan optimism is in order though. "We kept faith with a promise as old as
this land we love and as big as the sky, a brilliant vision of America as a
shining city on a hill. Thanks to all of you, and with God's help, America's
greatest chapter is still to be written, for the best is yet to come."
Executive Order 12630
Citizen Listing Petitions Can't Be Ignored
A federal judge has ruled
that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) can no longer ignore citizen
petitions to list species for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The
ruling by the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia could affect
listing decisions for more than 240 species on the agency's candidate list for
ESA protection. The decision was the result of a lawsuit brought by
environmentalists over the agency's failure to grant ESA protection to the
Gunnison sage grouse. For five years the USFWS has used the Petition Management
Guidance System to put off citizen petitions if the species were already on the
candidate list. "The Fish and Wildlife Service created a bureaucratic black
hole for endangered wildlife to avoid protecting these species," said Jay
Tutchton, director of the University of Denver Environmental Law Clinic. "The
court just put an end to this charade."
Wildlife Service Must
Consider Citizen Endangered Species Petitions
Owls Killing Owls
The northern spotted owls are
disappearing from northwest forests in spite of the environmentalists'
successful campaign to use the birds to rid the forests of loggers. U. S Forest
Service owl experts believe the growing presence of the barred owl is the
reason. The situation has sent the ecologist camp into a tail-spin. "What do
you do when one species invades the range of another, especially when the other
is on the endangered species list," asked Rocky Gutierrez, professor of
wildlife ecology at the University of Minnesota. The Audubon Society of
Portland, a chief protagonist in the original spotted owl lawsuit, is trying to
justify the removal of the barred owls. "It's been the source of a lot of
tension within the organization," said Susan Ash, acting conservation director.
"Any time you talk about killing one species, it's difficult." There is even
argument over how the barred owls arrived on the scene. Gutierrez thinks humans
did it by "stomping out fires on the Great Plains" and letting trees grow along
rivers creating an "avian highway." The timber industry wants to know if they
can harvest trees now that the spotted owls are gone and have requested a
review of the situation. The study results could determine if the Bush
administration will decide whether the bird deserves protection under the
Endangered Species Act.
Experts
Ponder Latest Menace to Spotted Owl
Earth Legacy Campaign
Environmentalists and "foreign policy
luminaries" have announced a new plan to save the earth, "the Earth Legacy
Campaign." The plan was announced at a luncheon in San Francisco last week
where San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and United Nations dignitaries met to
make plans for World Environment Day, June 5, 2005, a day that also marks the
60th anniversary of the United Nations. The promoters plan to urge the U. S.
Congress to step up U.S. global environmental leadership and establish a
committee to review the state of the global environment. The campaign's
declaration states the world's population will increase to nine billion by
mid-century and, horrors, cause "spreading industrialization, increasing
urbanization and rising consumption." "Without urgent action to reverse current
trends the degradation of the Earth's environment will undermine our public
health, national security and economic interests," the declaration read. The
Earth Legacy Campaign is backed by a coalition of 19 environmental and foreign
affairs groups, including Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Worldwatch
Institute, Defenders of Wildlife, and Citizens for Global Solution. The goal of
the campaign, said co-chairman Jacob Scherr director of the International
Program at NRDC, is "to stimulate a national discussion about what sort of
planet we want to leave to our children."
Environmentalists Launch Earth Legacy
Campaign