Posted: 10/19/2005
Pombo Bill Needs Senate Support
House-Passed Bill Protects Endangered Species, Private Property
DALLAS (October 18, 2005) – The Endangered Species Recovery Act (TESRA), passed last month in the House of Representatives and scheduled for debate in the Senate in the coming weeks, will improve habitat for at-risk species and protect private property owners, according to NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett. The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA).
“For too long bureaucratic wrangling has harmed both endangered species and people,” Burnett said. “It is important to create conditions under which both species at risk and people can benefit. Rep. Pombo’s legislation accomplishes that.”
TESRA reforms the Endangered Species Act by establishing and funding cooperative agreements with private property owners that will encourage them to create, enhance and improve habitat for endangered species. Seventy-five percent of endangered species depend upon private property owners for their habitat requirements in whole or in part.
In addition, TESRA requires the Secretary of the Interior to compensate qualified property owners for lost value for the portion of their land affected by the Endangered Species Act and sets up a transparent system through which they can receive compensation.
“The Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973, creates perverse incentives to destroy species and their habitats in order to costly and onerous federal restrictions,” Burnett added. “TESRA corrects those serious pitfalls.”