Common sense improvements for the Endangered Species Act

U.S. Congressman Sam Graves

It was Ronald Reagan who said the closest thing to eternal life is a government program. That helps explain why failing government programs never seem to get better. One example is the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Since its beginning in 1973, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has listed 1,268 plants and animals as endangered species. Exactly 15 of those species have been recovered in that time, or 1.2%. By any measurement the ESA has not been a success.

Not only is the program unsuccessful, but it has been harmful to small businesses and farmers trying to earn a living off their own land. It is a lesson that Rex Wood of Linn County learned all to well.

The floods of the mid-90s caused a massive logjam in Locust Creek. The jam raised channel levels and prevented fields from draining. Forty farmers donated over $18,000 to clear the logjam.

However, the FWS halted their plans for more than two years by claiming any cleanout would harm Indiana Bat habitat. Even though no one had seen an Indiana Bat the farmers could do nothing, but watch productive fields waste under standing water. It cost the farmers over $3 million dollars in losses.

I have introduced a bill to improve the Endangered Species Act. It creates incentives for landowners to work with the government and be compensated for their conservation efforts. These are common sense changes that will make the Endangered Species Act do what it was meant to do – recover species threatened by extinction