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HUFFMAN: Politics of endangered species
The Washigton Times ^ | April 26, 2011 | Jim Huffman

Posted on 04/26/2011 7:59:04 PM PDT by jazusamo

Science can’t change the fact that environmental protection requires judgment calls

Buried in the continuing resolution funding the federal government for the remainder of 2011 is a rider that delists the gray wolf as an endangered species in Montana and Idaho. The rider had bipartisan sponsorship from Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, and Rep. Michael K. Simpson, Idaho Republican, but the public reaction is anything but bipartisan.

Among environmentalists - and particularly among endangered species advocates - there is outrage that Congress had the temerity to poke this small hole in the Endangered Species Act. How dare Congress inject politics into what is meant to be a purely scientific determination? And even worse, Congress overrode the order of a federal judge and then had the gall to insulate its action from further judicial review. According to an editorial in the New York Times on Friday, all of this constitutes inappropriate “meddling” by Congress.

Now that’s an interesting objection. By effectively amending how the law applies in particular circumstances and overriding the decision of a federal judge, Congress is “meddling” with the Endangered Species Act? Doesn’t Congress make the laws, the executive implement and enforce the laws and the judiciary interpret the laws? By what theory does this constitutional separation of powers preclude Congress from changing its mind or from overriding the interpretations of bureaucrats and judges?

The fear among environmentalists is that other members of Congress will now seek special exemptions for their neighborhood endangered species. Careful inspection of future appropriations bills might reveal delistings of the Barton Springs salamander in Texas, the red-cockaded woodpecker in the Southeast and even the northern spotted owl in the Northwest. In the case of the spotted owl, such congressional overstepping would derail more than two decades of ongoing planning, scientific studies and judicialrulings.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: environazis; environment; esa; wolves
Had the enviros and the judge that backed them on every ridiculous argument been realistic on the wolf issue the Congress would not have to had done this.
1 posted on 04/26/2011 7:59:13 PM PDT by jazusamo
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To: steelyourfaith

Ping.


2 posted on 04/26/2011 8:00:18 PM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: jazusamo

The Spotted Owl should never have been listed. The original report excluded all Spotted Owls known to be nesting in second-growth timber. They are not now, nor have they ever been, a threatened species.


3 posted on 04/26/2011 8:03:25 PM PDT by SatinDoll (NO FOREIGN NATIONALS AS OUR PRESIDENT!)
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To: george76; Flycatcher; GladesGuru; girlangler

“Mr. Tester and Mr. Simpson made the political process work for their constituents.”

And about time.


4 posted on 04/26/2011 8:04:20 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: SatinDoll

Exactly right. Spotted owls were nesting in second growth timber in inhabited areas in So OR when they were listed.


5 posted on 04/26/2011 8:07:21 PM PDT by jazusamo (His [Obama's] political base---the young, the left and the thoughtless: Thomas Sowell)
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To: jazusamo

The Endangered Species Act should be repealed in its entirety. If species are too dumb to adapt to changing conditions, then that’s just tough.


6 posted on 04/26/2011 8:17:06 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Salvation

Oregon ping....they guy who SHOULD have been OUR Senator...Jim Huffman writes about wolves and environment.


7 posted on 04/26/2011 8:18:23 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Unlike the West, the Islamic world is serious.)
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To: jazusamo

Ranchers will still have a springtime surge in wolf attacks as the calving season ends and they release their herds onto remote pastures


8 posted on 04/26/2011 8:25:03 PM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: jazusamo

I have friends whose property contained century old fir trees on a half-dozen acres. Spotted Owls were nesting there and it scared them near to death because they feared, and rightly, what the Feds would do if the owls were discovered.


9 posted on 04/26/2011 8:48:22 PM PDT by SatinDoll (NO FOREIGN NATIONALS AS OUR PRESIDENT!)
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To: SatinDoll

YEP....The Dept of Forestry (I think) or some gov’t entity...recently said it was the BARRED Owl that was EATING the Spotted Owl....


10 posted on 04/26/2011 9:00:38 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Unlike the West, the Islamic world is serious.)
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To: SatinDoll

YEP....The Dept of Forestry (I think) or some gov’t entity...recently said it was the BARRED Owl that was EATING the Spotted Owl....


11 posted on 04/26/2011 9:00:43 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Unlike the West, the Islamic world is serious.)
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To: goodnesswins

Thanks for the ping!


12 posted on 04/26/2011 9:04:39 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: goodnesswins

Um...what I heard was that they were cross-breeding and producing Sparred Owls.

Or maybe that was a joke.


13 posted on 04/26/2011 9:05:30 PM PDT by SatinDoll (NO FOREIGN NATIONALS AS OUR PRESIDENT!)
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To: jazusamo; abcraghead; aimhigh; Archie Bunker on steroids; bicycle thug; blackie; coffeebreak; ...
If you aren't on this ping list and are interested
in articles about Oregon, please FReepmail me.

14 posted on 04/26/2011 9:06:07 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: matchgirl; ColdOne; Fred; Chattering Class of 58; SeattleBruce; tarator; 21twelve; Feasor13; ...
The Spotted Owl should never have been listed. The original report excluded all Spotted Owls known to be nesting in second-growth timber. They are not now, nor have they ever been, a threatened species.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Say WA? Evergreen State ping

Quick link: WA State Board

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.

15 posted on 04/26/2011 9:08:52 PM PDT by sionnsar (IranAzadi|5yst3m 0wn3d-it's N0t Y0ur5:SONY|http://pure-gas.org|Must be a day for changing taglines)
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To: Salvation

Thanks for the ping.

BTTT


16 posted on 04/26/2011 10:40:54 PM PDT by amom
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To: jazusamo

Q: Why did the NORTHERN Spotted Owl shut down the timber industry?

A: Because the SOUTHERN Spotted Owl (the exact same critter living below an arbitrarily drawn line) was doing just fine, thank you very much.


17 posted on 04/26/2011 11:57:43 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (0bamanomics: Trickle Up Poverty.)
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To: sionnsar

Grrrrrrr


18 posted on 04/27/2011 5:08:38 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
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To: jazusamo
More good news.

Thanks for the ping!

19 posted on 04/29/2011 7:44:36 AM PDT by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
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To: SatinDoll
No joke. Hybridization is happening all along the Pacific Northwest corridor, leaving the enviros in a tizzy.

And, yes, this hybrid is known as the "sparred owl."

20 posted on 04/29/2011 7:46:48 AM PDT by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
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