Lawmakers, zoo want you to weigh in on Endangered Species Act

Monday, Sept. 24 is the last day to add your two-cents about proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act. The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is collecting public comments.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, along with representatives from the zoo and the University of Washington, held a news conference on Wednesday to sound the alarm on what’s in store for endangered species.

“I think the majority of the people in this country … know that our economy is going to do better, our community is going to do better if we preserve our planet, if we preserve the diversity of species that allow us to be healthy for the long term,” Jayapal said.

Dr. Lisa Graumlich, the Dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington spoke of the impacts.

“One of the key regulatory changes that is being proposed is to ignore the projections we have of climate change that are based on robust science done by myself and my colleagues literally for decades,” Graumlich said.

For example, Graumlich says there are about 50 wolverines, not on the endangered list, left in the wild in Washington state and snow is critical to their survival. Without adequate snow, wolverines will surely go extinct in our state.

Republicans in Congress say the current Endangered Species Act hinders economic activities while doing little to restore species. Conservatives have long complained that the law hinders drilling, logging and other activities while failing to restore endangered species to unprotected status.

While the administration is happy to work with lawmakers from both parties, Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt called major changes to the law unlikely to pass a divided Congress.

“The Endangered Species Act pretty much as we know it is here and will be with us,” he said. “What we’re thinking about is how can we make the law work in a way that’s good for species and good for people.”

The Trump administration proposed a regulatory overhaul in July that would end automatic protections for threatened animals and plants and limit habitat safeguards meant to shield recovering species from harm. The proposal also opens the possibility of including cost-benefit analysis in listing decisions and makes it easier to remove a species from endangered or threatened status.

Democrats and some wildlife advocates said the moves would speed extinctions in the name of furthering the administration’s anti-environment agenda. Species currently under consideration for protections are considered especially at risk, including the North American wolverine and the monarch butterfly, they said.

Bernhardt dismissed criticism by environmental groups that the plan would “gut” crucial protections for threatened animals and plants.

KIRO Radio’s Andrew Lanier and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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