Senate Panel Rejects Bush Environment Plans

Rejects "Extinction Rider" on Endangered Species, Keeps Commitment on Historic Conservation Funding Deal

(06/28/2001) - WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee today rejected Bush Administration proposals to gut citizen enforcement of the Endangered Species Act and budget subterfuge that would have significantly cut overall conservation spending, according to Defenders of Wildlife. The president’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2002 included a request for a "rider" on the Interior appropriation that would have severely limited citizen oversight of the endangered species listing process, as well as asking for major cuts in overall conservation funding that was part of a landmark Congressional budget agreement last year. The Senate panel today sent its 2002 appropriations bill to the full Senate without the requested rider, dubbed the "extinction rider" by environmentalists, and with the vast majority of conservation funding intact. 

"We are deeply gratified that the Committee kept citizens in the picture on listing endangered species," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "The administration proposed to throw the fate of species at risk on the tender mercies of Interior Secretary Norton, who has argued that the entire Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional. With similar rejection of White House priorities by the House last week, it’s becoming clear just how extreme his anti-environmental agenda really is."

Conservation in Action, a recent report by Defenders of Wildlife, The Center for Biological Diversity and The Endangered Species Coalition, outlined the threat posed by the Bush "extinction rider" to species that scientists have identified as at risk but not yet listed as endangered or threatened due to funding shortfalls and bureaucratic delays. The proposed rider would have eliminated deadlines and time lines that the agency must meet under the law as grounds for citizen-initiated lawsuits. Without these deadlines, the agency would be free to delay action as long as it wished; ultimately, until a species became extinct and was beyond the help of the Endangered Species Act. Cerulean warblers, Aleutian sea otters, New England cottontails, and wolverines are among the nearly 300 species in the current listing backlog.

The Senate Committee bill also includes nearly full allocations for last year’s historic conservation funding package. That landmark deal set aside $12 billion in dedicated funding over a six-year period for a broad menu of critical conservation programs – including the Land and Water Conservation Fund – that protect open space, wildlife habitat, wild lands and cultural treasures threatened by uncontrolled urban sprawl and development. The president’s request had cut the fiscal year 2002 level for the new fund by $250 million; $94 million of this cut would have impacted programs in the Interior appropriations bill. Instead, this bill keeps the Congress’ commitment made last year and provides $1.31 billion for fiscal year 2002 for programs under its jurisdiction – $12 million less than the full dedicated levels, but $83 million more than the President’s request. Conservationists hope to see this amount restored to the full dedicated level when the bill goes to conference committee between the House and Senate.

Unfortunately, the Committee fell short of providing the full $450 million funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, although the $406 million allocated by the panel improves upon the $390 million in the House bill.

"We are also extremely gratified that the Senate appropriators held to the course that an overwhelming, bipartisan majority in Congress set us on last year with their historic agreement to allocate almost $12 billion in dedicated funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other key conservation programs. We are quite concerned that the president’s budget proposes a shell game that would have slashed these important initiatives, but the committee has held true to the original vision and put real meat on the bones of the Fund," Schlickeisen said.

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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on environmental issues.

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Contact(s):

Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270