Hello tweets,

i thought you might find this interesting (below).

regards,

Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow
Molecular Systematics Laboratories
Department of Ornithology
The American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at West 79th Street
New York, NY 10024-5192
212.313.7784 (office) 212.313.6962 or 212.313.7773 (lab)
email:nyneve at amnh.org or nyneve at myUW.net
work page http://research.amnh.org/ornithology/personnel/bennu.htm
personal pages http://research.amnh.org/users/nyneve/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: For Immediate release - Proposed Changes To Endangered
Species Act To Benefit Chemical Giants


For Immediate Release

January 29, 2004

Washington, D.C.

American Bird Conservancy

Contact: Dr. Patti Bright, (540) 253-5780, pbright at abcbirds.org
or Gavin Shire, (571) 332-6062, gshire at abcbirds.org

Proposed Changes To Endangered Species Act To Benefit Chemical Giants

Changes to the Act Would Remove Wildlife Experts From The
Decision-Making Process.

Hazardous Pesticides Like DDT Could Once Again Poison Endangered
Species.

Following closed-door meetings with pesticide manufacturers, the
federal government today proposed changes to the Endangered Species
Act that could have a dramatic, negative effect on how America's
rarest birds and other wildlife are protected from the effects of
toxic chemicals.

Due in part to the devastating impact of DDT in the 50s and 60s,
the country's most imperiled species are now protected by the
Endangered Species Act. It is credited with helping prevent declines
of many birds, including the Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, and
Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

Until now, under the Act, all government agencies have been mandated
to consult with experts at the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in
cases where their actions may affect endangered species. Now the
administration wants to change that by exempting the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) from this vital procedure. Instead, the EPA
would be able decide at its own discretion whether or not to consult
with FWS about the potential hazards of a chemical or specific
pesticide application. If the EPA decided to re-instate DDT, wildlife
experts would have no say in the matter.

"The irony is that the EPA has an extremely poor track record of
consulting with biologists at the Fish and Wildlife Service,"
said Dr. Patti Bright, Director of American Bird Conservancy's
Pesticide and Birds Campaign. "They have frequently only fulfilled
their mandate to consult when forced to do so by the courts, based
on suits brought by environmental groups. If EPA is no longer legally
required to consult with endangered species experts, EPA regulators
and government bureaucrats will be free to sanction pesticides that
can kill endangered species."

American Bird Conservancy1 (ABC) and other members of the National
Pesticide Coalition2 were dismayed by the government's action today,
and fear that further evisceration of the Endangered Species Act by
the current administration could follow. Two species protected by
the Act, the Bald Eagle and the Piping Plover, have recently been
at the center of controversial actions by EPA. In both cases the
agency intended to permit the use of toxic chemicals that would
have negatively impacted these rare species. The Endangered Species
Act was cited by ABC and other conservation groups in successful
campaigns to halt the EPA from their actions.

Hundreds pesticides are up for registration review by EPA in 2004,
many of which could impact endangered species. Endangered species
experts will have Wildlife experts could have no say in any of
these chemicals if the government proposal goes through.

"There can be no reason for this change to the Act other than to
excuse the EPA from upholding its task of protecting the
environment," said Bright. "The current system may be broken but
rather than working collaboratively to fix it, EPA is proposing
to simply dispose of it altogether. The winners here will be the
pesticide industry and the losers will be wildlife and our future
generations, who will lose the opportunity to enjoy it."
~ . ~

1 American Bird Conservancy is a not-for-profit organization
concerned with the conservation of wild birds and their habitats
throughout the Americas. ABC is the only U.S.-based group dedicated
solely to overcoming the greatest threats facing birds in the
Western Hemisphere. For more information visit www.abcbirds.org.

2 The National Pesticide Coalition is a consortium of environmental
organizations concerned with the detrimental effects pesticides can
have on America's native wildlife, farm workers, children, and
domestic animals. Working together for greater effectiveness, the
Coalition aims to promote a better understanding of these concerns
within government and industry.

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