Letter to the Editor: Recall Endangered Species Act

By PAUL YOUNG St. George

I think it is great that Senator Hatch while on the Judiciary Committee to open and hear out the pros and cons on malpractice suits, and yes there are both sides of the issue here that needs to be fully and completely aired. And this is good for every one living within the 50 United States. But Senator Hatch must also come to understand that the people living in Vermont or Texas or Massachusetts did not elect him to his position as senator for the State of Utah. Nor did only the people living in and along the enviro infested Wasatch Front elect him to office. His main supporters come from rural Utah.
Senator Hatch while still holding this key position should recall the Endangered Species Act back for a rehearing. There are several things within that act that should re removed and some new rules inserted.
First rule-all military bases and installations should be marked off limits to the Endangered Species Act. The act has four military bases marked with 50 recent off limits to protect species.
Second rule-no species can be listed into the act until a 90 day period is held open to the general public to vote one.
Third rule-any time and endangered species is used for fill an appeal. A $2,500 sincerity bond must be posted, to prove that the species is in place. If the appeal filer loses, he forfeits the $2,500, if he wins his money is returned to him.
Fourth rule-I an endangered species is proven to be existing in five different areas, it is no endangered.
Fifth rule-Removal of the critical habitat description and clause. In reality, the ESA has become for rural Utahns their worst nightmare. The human factor is completely ignored in the decision making.
The Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources which oversees enforcement of the ESA, of which this year the DWR included an additional 113 new species to their endangered list, included the rattlesnake. The ESA decides which species are listed, how much land must be set aside for critical habitat for those species, and what activities are permitted on land where these species might live. Critical habitat is defined not as land on which the species currently lives, but as any area that has similar characteristics essential to the survival of the species.
The construction of schools, hospitals, home and airports is often delayed or stopped by critical habitat designation even when no representative of the species has been found. In many cases costing the landowners and builders literally millions of dollars.