Endangered Species Act (ESA)
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- Safari Club International supports major proposed revisions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to its Endangered Species Act regulations that were announced today.
“Today's announcement ushers in a major move forward for the FWS. At long last, we have leadership that recognizes the importance of flexibility in the conservation of federally listed wildlife and the recognition that different approaches, including sustainable use, can be used to recover and sustain the world's wildlife,” said SCI President Paul Babaz.
Of the many proposed changes, SCI generally supports the proposals to provide more flexibility to the management and recovery of threatened species and to modify how the agency establishes the “foreseeable future” when making threatened listing decisions.
Under one proposal, the FWS would decide on a species-by-species basis what, if any, ESA prohibitions would apply to each species listed as threatened. The ESA itself applies these prohibitions (e.g., regarding take and import) only to endangered species. Congress envisioned that the FWS would decide individually what prohibitions applied to each particular threatened species.
But the FWS long ago adopted a blanket rule that the statutory prohibitions would automatically apply to all threatened species, unless the FWS adopted a “special rule” specific to a particular species that spelled out what restrictions applied.
The FWS's sister agency in implementing the ESA, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), followed Congressional intent and did not adopt the blanket rule. The FWS's proposal would align it with NMFS and Congressional intent.
The FWS's proposal would ensure that, moving forward, all threatened species receive the level of protection that is appropriate for each species. This approach will free-up limited resources for more targeted and efficient recovery of threatened and endangered species.
SCI also supports the FWS's consideration of revisions
