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Don't destroy our Endangered Species Act!
 The House of Representatives could vote this week on whether to cut the heart out of the Endangered Species Act, which has so successfully protected vulnerable species like the bald eagle and the grizzly bear for so long. We need your help to stop this bill!
The cynically named “Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" (H.R. 3824) is an absolute nightmare for threatened and endangered species, and ignores the 90 percent of Americans who care about protecting them. One provision states, in effect, that the government must either allow people to kill endangered species, or force taxpayers to pay them not to break the law. Think that’s outrageous? Another provision would end all critical habitat protection for the forests, beaches, meadows, and other places that endangered plants and animals need to survive and recover. And that’s just the beginning!
If this bill is made law, hundreds of endangered species could become extinct, and many more will never recover. We owe it to future generations to protect threatened and endangered species and the places they call home. Please tell your representative: Don’t destroy the Endangered Species Act!
Personalized messages are the most compelling -- why are you committed to protecting species?
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| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Don't Destroy the Endangered Species Act: Oppose H.R. 3824
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
Please oppose H.R. 3824, the deceptively titled Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act, which is being rushed to a vote.
As one of the many citizens in your district who care about species like the bald eagle, I am extremely concerned about efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act. I believe that Representative Pombo's bill would fatally undermine the landmark law and its ability to protect our nation's at-risk wildlife, and I urge you to oppose the bill.
Every species needs a home, but this bill would end all critical habitat protection for the special places that endangered plants and animals need to survive and recover. The bill would also repeal protections for threatened and endangered species from the harmful impact of pesticides. In addition, the bill tries to politicize scientific decision-making involving endangered wildlife, and eliminate the vital check and balance that federal wildlife agencies have played in protecting America's rare animals and plants.
The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, fish, and plants on the brink of extinction, and Representative Pombo's bill would cut huge holes in this safety net. Please stand up for species like the bald eagle, the grizzly bear, and the Florida panther, and oppose this attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
September 16, 2005
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The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, fish, and plants on the brink of extinction. When President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act in 1973, he said "Nothing is more priceless and more worthy of preservation than the rich array of animal life with which our country has been blessed."
In the last three decades, the act’s protections have been enormously successful, and have kept more than 99 percent of listed species from extinction, including the bald eagle, the grizzly bear, the whooping crane, the peregrine falcon, the grey wolf, and hundreds more.
Today, this landmark law and the species that depend on it are under attack. Representative Pombo’s cynically titled "Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act" would cut the heart out of the Endangered Species Act, crippling the law’s ability to protect threatened and endangered species.
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The bill has only just been introduced (read the text of the bill here), but has already been rushed through the House Resources Committee. The bill's many harmful provisions would take a wrecking ball to the act, fatally undermining the most important aspects of the law such as the science, habitat protection, and recovery provisions. The bill would:
End all critical habitat protection for the river banks, forests, beaches, meadows, and other special places that endangered plants and animals need to survive and recover;
- End all critical habitat protection for the river banks, forests, beaches, meadows, and other special places that endangered plants and animals need to survive and recover;
- Repeal all provisions that protect threatened and endangered species from the harmful impact of pesticides;
- Require Fish and Wildlife Service to allow unfettered habitat destruction if the federal government fails to meet a 180-day deadline for telling developers whether their actions would kill or harm an endangered species;
- Jeopardize virtually all protections for wildlife by creating a tangle of bureaucracy and regulations that would make it impossibly burdensome for biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Service to act;
- Give the Service just 180 days to choose between allowing corporate and private landowners to kill endangered animals and plants at will, or paying whatever ransom they might demand for lost profits to keep them from breaking the law;
- Substitute political science for biological science and allow political appointees to manipulate science to fit their political agenda;
- Eliminate the vital check and balance role that expert wildlife agencies have played in safeguarding imperiled species from federal projects that may jeopardize their continued existence; and
- Change the definition of what constitutes an “endangered species,” making it harder to protect individual populations of endangered wildlife if a species is endangered in America but healthy in a foreign country.
 “If such a law had been passed in 1973 instead of the Endangered Species Act, there would likely be no bald eagles, wolves, grizzly bears, Florida panthers, or whooping cranes in the continental U.S. today,” said Susan Holmes, senior legislative representative for Earthjustice. “If this bill is made law, hundreds of endangered species could become extinct, and many more will never recover.”
This bill is moving very quickly, and was passed out of the Resources Committee on Thursday. Despite the pressing social and environmental concerns surrounding Hurricane Katrina, Rep. Pombo says that he will attempt to bring this bill to a full House vote this Thursday, September 29. That’s why it is so important for our members of Congress to hear from us right now, asking them to support the act and oppose Rep. Pombo’s attempt to weaken protections for endangered species and their habitat.
Please act today! Ask your representative to stand up for species like the bald eagle, the grizzly bear, and the Florida panther, and oppose Pombo’s “extinction bill” and any bill that would weaken the Endangered Species Act. America needs a strong Endangered Species Act. We must uphold protections for these magnificent animals and plants and the places they call home.
 As personalized messages are always the most powerful, we encourage you to edit the sample letter to reflect why you are committed to protecting endangered species. Including a personal story or local example makes your letter especially compelling to your representative.
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