[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CALL FOR REFORM OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 30, 1996

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, in the 20 years since its inception, the 
implementation of the Endangered Species Act has undermined the rights 
of private landowners and is jeopardizing the Nation's food supply.
  The people of the Central Valley of California, in which my district 
is located, have on more than one occasion been penalized for simply 
trying to irrigate, cultivate, or otherwise use their own property. 
This illustrates one fundamental flaw in the Endangered Species Act: 
one section of the population is paying a disproportionate share of the 
cost of protecting endangered species. We, the people of the United 
States, decided to protect endangered species. Yet, while the farmers 
and business people of the Central Valley pay the cost of administering 
endangered species habitats on their property, those Americans who do 
not own and work the land are exempted from the cost of protecting 
endangered species.
  A second, and more disturbing, result of the implementation of the 
act is that it threatens America's food supply. Tulare and Kern 
Counties, both located within my district, are the second and third 
largest agricultural producing counties in the United States. Tulare 
County annually produces over 260,000 bales of cotton, over 1 million 
tons of citrus, over 340,000 head of cattle, and over 568 million 
gallons of milk. Kern County produces over 730,000 tons of grapes, over 
590,000 bales of cotton, over 600,000 tons of citrus, and over 104 
million gallons of milk. The Central Valley of California feeds the 
Nation. In enforcing the Endangered Species Act, the Government is not 
only acting against the property rights of private landowners, it is 
also hindering the production of the Nation's food. Let me give some 
examples.
  Federal and State agents force landowners to pay outrageous fees and 
penalties in order to resolve concerns for the well-being of endangered 
species, including various rodents and lizards, living on private 
property.
  One farmer who tried to build a turkey ranch had to forfeit some of 
his land to the Government and pay $50,000 for the management of a 
habitat for the Tipton Kangaroo Rat, among other species.
  One farmer, hoping to build a dairy, plowed 160 acres of his own 
land. The Fish and Wildlife Service did not approve, fearing for the 
kangaroo rat, and the farmer was forced to sell the Government 112 
acres of his land and provide $14,000 for the area's management.
  On yet another occasion, an environmental assessment was required 
during the sale of land in southern Tulare County. The assessment team 
found no endangered species on the property in question, but, as they 
were returning to their car, they spied a Swainson's Hawk, a threatened 
species, flying overhead. The hawk never landed on the property, but 
the team still believed it might feed on rodents living on the 
property. As a consequence, the farmer who owned the land had to pay an 
outrageous $165,000 in mitigation fees.

  These fees not only represent an exorbitant cost for the farmers 
involved, they also show how a small group of citizens are paying for a 
solution to a problem we as a society decided to address. In reforming 
the Endangered Species Act we must balance the rights of landowners 
with the rights of threatened animals, and we must ensure that society 
as a whole contributes to the cost of protecting such animals.
  The Endangered Species Act not only poses a threat to the California 
farmer and businessperson, it poses a threat to all citizens. 
Production in the richest agricultural region in the United States has 
time and again been obstructed by overzealous Government agents 
enforcing the act.
  In 1991 California farmers were in the middle of a 6-year drought, 
and the Kern County Water Agency proposed drilling emergency wells to 
irrigate crops. Before it could begin to recover much-needed 
groundwater, however, the Water Agency was forced to complete surveys 
for the presence of the kangaroo rat, at a cost of over $27,000. Not a 
single endangered species was ever identified. The environmental 
assessment caused a delay of 3 months in the drilling of the wells, and 
thousands of acres of valuable crops were put in jeopardy.
  In another incident, the Kern County Water Agency, along with the 
State of California, purchased 20,000 acres of land to construct an 
underground reservoir. ``Water banks'' such as these are a very cost-
effective way of collecting water for irrigation, and California 
taxpayers invested close to $60 million in the project. The Water 
Agency, regardless of the fact that it spent over $100,000 on a 
comprehensive conservation plan for the area, was told it must set 
aside 12,000 acres for an endangered species habitat, leaving only 
8,000 acres for the water bank. The Water Agency understandably 
believed this was unreasonable and abandoned the project.
  I support H.R. 2275, the Endangered Species Conservation and 
Management Act, which says those who enforce the Endangered Species Act 
must consider economic impacts and property owners' rights when taking 
action to protect endangered species. The bill would require the 
Government to pay landowners fair market value when, in creating and 
administering habitats for endangered species, it causes the value of 
the property to diminish.
  H.R. 2275 also requires that the Secretary of Interior use only the 
best scientific or commercial data in determining which species are 
threatened or endangered, delegates authority to the individual States 
to protect endangered species that reside within each State, and 
establishes a National Biological Diversity Reserve to help preserve 
the existence of threatened and endangered species.
  Effective reform of the Endangered Species Act should be on our 
agenda. I urge support for the Endangered Species Conservation and 
Management Act to better protect the property rights of landowners and 
preserve agricultural production in the Central Valley, while 
accommodating the society-wide goal of preserving truly endangered 
species.

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