Group Stymied In Bid To Help On Endangered Species Act

     An advisory group representing environmentalists and landowners could not reach consensus in an anticipated report to senators on revisions in the Endangered Species Act's protection of critical habitat. A 23-member advisory group representing the nonprofit Keystone Center agreed the Endangered Species Act "could do a more effective job of protecting and conserving the habitat that species need to recover," according to a letter the group sent to six pivotal senators Friday. But divergent views among members of the advisory group "made reaching consensus that the status quo should be improved far easier than agreeing on how that ought to be accomplished," the letter said. The Keystone group's inability to reach middle ground underscores the difficulty faced by four senators who are trying to write an Endangered Species Act reauthorization by the end of March. "The lack of consensus does make it more difficult," said a spokesman for Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., chairman of the Environment and Public Works Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee. "That is a concern for us." Last May, six senators asked the group -- based in Colorado:State>:place> and known for its work on natural resources issues -- to help their efforts to come up with a bipartisan update of the law governing the federal protection of critical habitats.
     Chafee has been working with Environment and Public Works Chairman Inhofe, ranking member James Jeffords, I-Vt., and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee. The Keystone Group also sent a summary of the advisory group's findings to Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who have sponsored legislation pending in the Finance Committee that offers incentives such as tax breaks to spur improvements in species recovery.
     While Senate aides have been piecing together other portions of a Senate Endangered Species Act update, Chafee, in particular, has been waiting for the results of the Keystone report to help map a compromise on critical habitat. The Senate discussions, however, have not "been hinged solely on the result of the Keystone process," an Inhofe spokesman said. "It's a key component but that hasn't prevented staff from working on other elements of the bill." There is emerging consensus that an update of the law is necessary. But conservationists say a bill that was passed by the House last fall would gut the law by replacing the federal critical habitat designation with a nonbinding species recovery plan. The bill, largely drafted by House Resources Chairman Pombo, also includes incentives for landowners to help recovery of species on their land. Chafee in recent weeks has cited his concern that conference talks on Endangered Species would result in a "Pomboized" bill. Pombo has said his bill improves the law by including landowners in the process. Thirty-six Democrats voted for the House bill, despite lobbying by Democratic leaders in favor of a compromise by Science Chairman Boehlert and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that would have replaced federal critical habitat designation with a binding recovery plan and removed the landowner incentives.
    -- by Darren Goode
Congress Daily PM

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