Opposing the Weakening of the ESA
THE PROPOSED REGULATIONS
In 2016, Cottonwood won an Endangered Species Act lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court that protected over 12 million acres of critical habitat on National Forest lands for Canada lynx. The outgoing federal administration has proposed eliminating the regulations that Cottonwood used to protect the rare cats. The proposed revisions will remove landscape level protections and prioritize timber sales.
Canada lynx evolved massive paws that allow them to travel over deep snow in search of their main food source, the snow shoe hare. The remaining cats were placed on the list of threatened species because management plans were inadequate to ensure their survival. As climate change reduces snowfall and negatively impacts our National Forests, the public must be allowed to ensure the U.S. Forest Service’s management plans are adequate to protect endangered species like Canada lynx.
It’s not too late to take action. Use our guide to contact your senator and tell them that you value endangered species and the laws that protect them.
Take Action
Let Senator Daines and Senator Tester know that you oppose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s new rules promoting extinction.
Our Guide
You can copy and paste the following sample into your email or letter, or you can use it as a guide to create your own. You may also use it as a script when you call your senator.
I am a conservationist that values threatened and endangered species. I respectfully oppose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed Endangered Species Act regulations that promote extinction. The rules, if adopted, will eliminate the requirement that federal agencies reinitiate consultation on previously approved U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land management plans when a new species is listed, critical habitat is designated, or if new information becomes available regarding the impacts of the management plan on existing critical habitat or listed species.
The sole reason Canada lynx were listed as a Threatened Species under the Endangered Species Act is because of “the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, specifically the lack for guidance for conservation of lynx in National Forest Land and Resource Plans.” 65 Fed. Reg. 16,061, 16,082 (March 24, 2000). The proposed rules will push Canada lynx further towards extinction by removing regulatory mechanisms designed to protect the species.
In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared a Biological Opinion for Canada lynx that admits “[L]andscape level direction [is] necessary for the survival and recovery of lynx in the northern Rockies ecosystem.” The Fish and Wildlife Service has now proposed removing the requirement that federal agencies review the adequacy of their management plans when new information becomes available.
By ignoring the importance of management plans in the survival and recovery of threatened and endangered species, the Proposed Regulations will cause threatened and endangered species like Canada lynx to go extinct.
For these reasons, I oppose the proposed regulations.
If you have any questions, concerns, or need any assistance, please contact our staff.