Conservationists Urge Bush to List Waiting Endangered Species

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, May 5, 2004 (ENS) - A 1,000 page petition filed Tuesday by renowned conservationists, environmental groups and scientists calls on the federal government to protect 225 of the nation's most imperiled plants and animals. On average, the species in question have been on the candidate list of endangered species for 17 years and the petitioners warn that time is running out.

"These magnificent species are at death's door - if they are not protected soon they will be lost forever," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which spearheaded the petition.

The species range from Hawaii to Washington, California, New York and Florida, and include 133 plants, 64 invertebrates and 29 vertebrates.

Sixty-four species, such as a native Utah plant known as the Aquarius paintbrush and an Arkansas fish called the yellowcheek darter, have been on the candidate list since 1975.

Few might recognize most of the names on the list, but that makes their need for federal protection even more vital, the petition filers say.

"Scientists have studied these species, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that they need the protection of the Endangered Species Act," said Dr. Michael Soulé, a University of California biologist and founder of the Society for Conservation Biology. "These plants and animals can be saved if greed and arrogance are subdued by compassion for life and common sense."

The Elfin woods warbler has been on the candidate list for more than two decades. (Photo courtesy Jose Pepe Gonzalez National Audubon Society)

The report alleges that in some cases the agency knew the delay would cause extinction, but chose not to act rather than confront powerful political interests.

The petitioners acknowledge that listing delays have been the norm since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, but contend the administration of President George W. Bush has made the situation far worse.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the petitioners note that the administration of President Bill Clinton placed 65 species per year on the endangered list, President George H.W. Bush averaged 59, and President Ronald Reagan 32.

By comparison, the present Bush administration has averaged nine listings per year and is the first in the history of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) not to have listed any species or designated any critical habitat except under court order.

"The Bush administration has essentially shut down the endangered species protection program," Suckling said. "It has the worst record in the history of the Endangered Species Act."

The petition recommends the Bush administration to immediately propose all candidate species for ESA protection and to develop a five year plan to finalize protection for them all.

It calls on the Bush administration to ask Congress for the $153 million the Fish and Wildlife Service says it needs to list the backlog of candidate species and designate their critical habitat.

The Oregon spotted frog has been on the candidate list since 1991 - it has received Canada's first and only "emergency listing" as an endangered species. (Photo courtesy Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife )

Critics say the administration has manufactured an ESA funding crisis in order to mask its desire to roll back the law.

This accusation hits at a fundamental divide between the conservation community and the Bush administration, which says the law is "broken" and in need of a major overhaul.

Last year, administration officials announced that the ESA does little to protect endangered or threatened species and has caused a host of lawsuits that are draining the scarce funds available to protect endangered species.

The Bush administration's polices reflect the view held by some developers and many natural resource extraction companies that the ESA is too rigid, is not working to keep species from becoming imperiled and is being used by environmentalists to challenge development of public lands.

Recovery of listed species, the administration says, will not come through regulatory actions such as listing species and designating critical habitat, but through voluntary cooperative partnerships and incentives.

Such partnerships and incentives are important, critics acknowledge, but they argue these measures are meaningless without the backstop of the Endangered Species Act.

"Wildlife is facing serious threats almost everywhere … [but] in the United States, the Endangered Species Act is an effective tool for protecting species," said world renowned conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall of the Goodall Institute. "But the current administration and others seek to undermine this important law."

There is growing evidence that conservation measures within the United States - and throughout the world - are failing. The world faces a wave of extinction prompted by unfettered human growth and development and scientists estimate the current extinction rate is 100 to 1,000 times the natural level.

Biologist Michael Soulé is a founder of the Society for Conservation Biology. (Photo courtesy Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project)

"Extinction is the most irreversible and tragic of all environmental calamities," Soulé said. "With each plant and animal species that disappears, a precious part of creation is callously erased."

Also joining the petition are the Xerces Society and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance along with two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, National Academy of Sciences member Dr. Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University, Dr. Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences member Dr. John Terborgh of Duke University, National Medal of Science winner Dr. Thomas Eisner of Cornell University, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Barbara Kingsolver, Lannan Literary Award winning essayist Charles Bowden, former Poet Laureate Robert Hass, and actor Martin Sheen.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which declined comment on the petition, has 90 days to respond to its requests.