{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "Endangered Species Coalition",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/endangered-species-coalition",
"title": "Save the Endangered Species Act from Congressional Attacks",
"thumbnail_url": "https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/share_options/facebook_images/000/093/526/original/wolfclosenps.jpg",
"description": "The Endangered Species Act has stood strong for decades–achieving a 99% success rate at protecting species from vanishing into extinction. Now, the Act itself needs our help. Congressional enemies of wildlife have introduced legislation that would undermine the Endangered Species Act and slash some still-recovering species of protections. Among the most alarming proposals are several amendments to a funding bill for the Department of Interior: One rider would overturn a recent federal court decision that resulted in the protections of wolves in the Great Lakes and turn their management over to the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin–all states intent on hunting and trapping wolves. (House Sec. 116/Senate Sec. 120) Another would interfere in the conservation of greater sage-grouse by blocking the USFWS from taking any actions to protect these birds that are threatened by oil and gas drilling. (House Sec. 113/Senate Sec. 114) In an outright attack on science and conservation, another proposed amendment seeks to kick all wolves in the lower 48 states off of the endangered species list. This would turn all of the nation's wolves over to states to manage, even in areas where there are minimal or non-established populations. (Sec. 117) Another rider would block funding of recovery efforts for threatened Preble’s meadow jumping mouse–a species that is experiencing development-related habitat loss that threatens its chances at survival. (Sec. 459) Alaskan wildlife would be targeted under a proposal that would block the National Park Service from creating protections for bears and other predators in Alaska national preserves. These protections that some in Congress are seeking to slash include bans on spotlighting denning bears and cubs as they hibernate. Another amendment would block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from taking any steps to list the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act. (Senate Sec. 121) A provision in the Senate would overturn requirements that federal agencies consult with the USFWS to determine whether their projects would violate the Endangered Species Act. Taking this requirement away would severely limit the ability of the USFWS to protect species and would drastically weaken the Endangered Species Act. (Senate Sec. 431) A "Chairman's Statement" accompanying the Senate legislation calls for an end to recover red wolves and to declare them extinct. This political interference in species recovery would doom the world's remaining red wolves to extinction in the wild. These attacks could severely undermine the Endangered Species Act and negatively reshape conservation and wildlife protections for years to come. Please contact your senators and representative and ask that they oppose these and any other amendments that would weaken protections for wildlife.",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/save-the-endangered-species-act-from-congressional-attacks"
}