1293 Concerned Scientists Ask The Senate To Reject Meddling With The ESA!

Enough is enough already. It seems like a lifetime since  anti-wolfers came up with the brilliant idea to legislate wolves out of the ESA. They were losing badly in court, so they decided to make an end-run around the ESA.  Now every Tom, Dick and Harry has an anti-wolf bill. They think it’s going to win them votes in the Red States but it’s just upsetting environmentalists and wildlife watchers, who happen to be voters as well. The Democrats that support the dismantling of the ESA are in for a rude awakening in 2012.

AND not all environmentalists are Democrats either, many are Independents.  The Dems are going to lose the Independent vote and Obama will end up as a one term President. He has abandoned his base and is acting like George Bush. Who would have thought Democrats would have a hand in trying to weaken one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation ever written? It’s an upside down world.

Now, 1293  scientists from around the country have spoken out against this outrage. They are collectively asking the Senate to reject any and all attempts to meddle with the ESA, specifically to delist gray wolves.

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A Letter from 1,293 Scientists with Expertise in Biological Systems to the United States Senate

Concerning Science and the Endangered Species Act
March 30, 2011

Dear Senators:

As scientists with expertise in biological systems, we are writing to urge you to vote against any
legislation that would undercut the use of best available science as the basis for adding or removing
any particular species from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Allowing Congress to
remove or add protections for particular species would set a dangerous precedent, as the fate of
every species on the endangered species list (or any candidate for that list) would then be subject to
political interference.

Because of its strong scientific foundation, the Endangered Species Act is the most critical and
successful law for ensuring the protection of threatened and endangered wildlife in our country.
Objective scientific information and methods should be used in listing or delisting species,
subspecies, and distinct population segments as endangered or threatened. While non-scientific
factors may appropriately be considered at points later in the process, their use in listing decisions is
inconsistent with the biologically defensible principles of the Endangered Species Act.
We are aware that there are legislative attempts to remove individual species from the Endangered
Species Act. For example, congressional proposals to delist the gray wolf forgo scientific
determination of whether the species, or populations of the species, have recovered and whether
sufficient regulatory mechanisms are in place to ensure the species’ survival. In the northern Rocky
Mountains the return of wolves has restored key predator-prey dynamics in and around Yellowstone
National Park that have resulted in changes throughout the entire ecosystem. To remove protections
for wolves before the best available science tells us recovery is ensured would place one of our
country’s greatest conservation success stories at risk.

Biological diversity provides food, fiber, medicines, clean water, and myriad other ecosystem
products and services on which we depend every day. To undermine the careful and thoughtful
scientific process that determines whether a species is endangered or recovered would jeopardize
not only the species in question and the continued success of the Endangered Species Act, but the
very foundation of the ecosystems that sustain us all.
We strongly urge you to oppose any legislation that circumvents the use of best available science in
Endangered Species Act decision making.

Respectfully,
[Signers listed alphabetically by state]

CLICK HERE For Link To Letter and Scientists By State

Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Endangered Species Act, gray wolf

Tags: Concerned scientists, tampering with the ESA, political expediency, Senate Budget Bill