As the U.S. Congress is poised to pass yet another continuing resolution that could pave the way for negotiations to begin on a final omnibus appropriations bill for the Fiscal Year 2018, more than 240 environmental, animal welfare, and conservation organizations have united to advocate against numerous provisions that would negatively affect the Endangered Species Act and other safeguards for wildlife.
In a joint letter sent yesterday to House and Senate leadership, the groups called on the lawmakers to reject measures in the Fiscal Year 2018 Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency appropriations legislation, that would further threaten endangered animals.
This year’s House and Senate bills currently include provisions that would take away federal protections for the Mexican gray wolf and several other species, stop funding for listed species if wildlife agencies cannot complete their five-year species reviews on time, and block protections for sage-grouse, among many other species.
“The conservation challenges America faces today are even greater and more complex than they were when the Endangered Species Act was first enacted. We face the reality of climate change and other enormous threats to our planet’s biodiversity, which in turn threatens our own survival as a species,” the group noted in a collective statement released by Animal Welfare International. “Clearly, now is not the time to weaken the best tool our nation has to combat what scientists have determined is the sixth major extinction phase experienced on this planet.”
This letter follows two recent letters from both the House and the Senate in which 104 representatives and 31 senators urged their colleagues to steadfastly protect the Endangered Species Act.
A copy of the letter and its signatories can be found HERE!
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