Endangered Species Act faces huge hurdle
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Recovering animals that are nearing extinction, like the black-footed ferret, was the whole point of the 1973 Endangered Species Act but some lawmakers say it needs to be reformed.
'Is the program working as designed 50 years ago?'' Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) asked. 'No, it's been interpreted way beyond that, where it isn't just the species, but they want to have every ounce of possible habitat as they determine is critical habitat.'
California Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa says the law has hindered new infrastructure and doing things like controlled burns, aimed at preventing larger fires and ultimately helping habitats.
'Instead, like in forestry, we end up with million-acre fires, 500,000-acre fires year after year. And air quality from that– let's talk about that,' LaMalfa said.
LaMalfa supports a bill in Congress to amend the Endangered Species Act. It aims to streamline permitting, give more power to states and take away power from groups that sue over the law.
'It's more fair to title this the 'Extinction Act,'' Defenders of Wildlife Senior Attorney Jane Davenport said.
Davenport says this bill would push through projects, and get rid of the balance between building and protecting species.
'It would favor industrialization, development, destruction of habitat over protection, restoration and recovery,' Davenport said.
Davenport calls for more funding for the existing act, rather than amendments.
'We are not all moving to Mars in the next 100 years. We are living on this planet,' Davenport said.
LaMalfa says the legislation is commonsense.
'We need to do these practices that work. And a lot of times it's prohibited because somebody dreams up a species of the week to use to stop it,' LaMalfa said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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