States would get greater input into the federal process for listing endangered species under a draft bill recently released by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo. The “Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018” would amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to increase transparency and regulatory certainty, and to reauthorize that act.

The original intent of the ESA, stated in the act itself, was to encourage “the States and other interested parties, through Federal financial assistance and a system of incentives, to develop and maintain conservation programs which meet national and international standards.” The authors of the ESA clearly believed in applying it in a way that would foster collaboration and efficiency of program delivery, in an incentive-driven manner.

Unfortunately, implementation of the ESA has “progressed” in recent years towards an approach that is now driven by litigation, and sometimes inappropriate interpretation by federal agencies. Western rural communities have, in particular, suffered as a result.

I am pleased to see the committee reassess the original intent of the ESA, which emphasized a paradigm where species conservation could be achieved in cooperation with state and local interests, including farmers and ranchers — instead of at the expense of agriculture, which is happening in several Western states under current interpretation of the act.

Guidance from the states
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, as chairman of the Western Governors’ Association, launched the Species Conservation and ESA Initiative in June 2015. Since then, a series of ESA Initiative workshops and webinars, along with several questionnaires, have enabled states to share best practices in species management, promote the role of states in species conservation, and explore options for improving the efficacy of the ESA. Workshops and webinars were designed to foster an inclusive and bipartisan dialogue on how to improve implementation of the ESA, and better incentivize species conservation efforts to avoid the need to list a species in the first place.

Each of these ideas and others are reflected in the proposed bill. We strongly support the improved state-federal consultation provision relating to conservation and recovery of wildlife included in the draft. The bill also encourages conservation activities through regulatory certainty, including provisions that address our oft-voiced complaint regarding “random acts of conservation.”

One section of the draft bill establishes the sense of Congress that local government, landowners and other stakeholders should receive credit for enrolling in, and performing obligations under, conservation agreements, as well as investing in and carrying out conservation activities generally. We agree that federal agencies should consider these actions in making determinations under the ESA.

Finally, the proposed bill also includes practical improvements to the ESA that will strengthen conservation decision-making through increased transparency; optimize conservation through resource prioritization; authorize studies that will improve transparency of management decisions; and ultimately, improve conservation.

For all of these reasons, the Family Farm Alliance strongly supports this draft bill. I encourage every Western rancher to contact Sen. Barrasso’s committee and urge that this important legislation be advanced.

Keppen is executive director of the Family Farm Alliance.