[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           FOREST MANAGEMENT

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, the Endangered Species Act 
was signed into law in 1973, in order to preserve, protect, and recover 
key domestic species.
  The ESA also contains a citizen lawsuit provision, which allows 
private citizens--and, in many cases, special interest organizations--
to sue Federal agencies and private landowners for allegedly failing to 
comply with ESA. Taxpayers are on the hook, even when the Federal 
Government prevails.
  The Forest Service, which I had the privilege of holding jurisdiction 
over as chairman of the Agricultural Subcommittee on Conservation, 
Energy, and Forestry, must comply with ESA before engaging in any kind 
of forest management activity, which is the agency's most basic and 
fundamental role
  Protecting species is our goal, but unfortunately, this provision has 
been used as a tool by those who would like to halt land management 
activities.
  The financial impact of these activities in the Forest Service is 
significant, posing a threat to the forest health, the economic well-
being of local communities, and also the species we are aiming to 
protect.
  We must replace this flawed policy with one that protects taxpayers 
and species restoration, but also the health of our forests and our 
local economies.

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