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DONATE !
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March 5, 2011
Senator Jon Tester attempts to destroy the Endangered Species Act Politics is taking precedence over law as Montana's Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, has added a rider to the Continuing Budget Resolution intended to extend funding for the entire federal government for seven months. Tester's move, which sets a terrible precedent allowing politicians nationwide to remove endangered species from the recovery mechanisms of the Endangered Species Act through Congressional action, is widely believed to have been launched as a political end run to give Tester a dubious "win" over his Republican challenger, Rep. Dennis Rehberg. The provision directs the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the 2009 delisting rule, which was struck down in 2010 by a federal district court, and insulates the reissued rule from further judicial review, thus gutting the legal authority of the Endangered Species Act and denying citizens the right to judicial process when political bodies ignore the law. The rider, which is unlikely to be removed from the "must pass" desperation funding bill, will return wolf management authority to all states in the Northern Rockies region except Wyoming. Tester's spokesperson Aaron Murphy told reporters that the "provision delists Montana wolves and returns their management to our state," adding that Tester "pushed for this because wolves need to be managed by Montanans who know best how to keep them under control." Unfortunately, actions by both Idaho's Governor Butch Otter and Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer give lie to Tester's contention. Otter has repeatedly stated his desire to kill as many wolves as possible in Idaho, and Schweitzer recently encouraged ranchers to take the law into their own hands and kill wolves on sight regardless of the court ruling that put the wolves back under the Endangered Species Act protections. Encouraging people to break federal law under the rubric of "local control" would be like turning over the civil rights problem in the 60s to the governors of Mississippi and Alabama. By blocking any further judicial review of wolf delisting, this provision not only cuts states loose to wipe out wolf recovery efforts, but also sets another terrible precedent for all federal laws. Should Congress adopt this measure, it will be a tragedy not just for wolves and other endangered species, but for the rule of law in America. Besides setting gutting the Endangered Species Act, Tester's last-ditch attempt to force wolf delisting through a rider on an important budget bill only opens the door to other riders that can and will destroy our nation's bedrock environmental laws without even providing citizens a chance to voice their views at a hearing. Please Take Action today: contact Senator Tester to let him know in no uncertain terms that you oppose his wolf delisting rider, his removal of judicial review, and his continuing attacks on the Endangered Species Act. Thank you.
EMAIL: http://tester.senate.gov/Contact/
Senator Jon Tester |
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