Crapo To Governors: â??On The Groundâ?? Efforts May Break Esa â??Gridlockâ??

Washington, DC - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, Chairman of the Senate subcommittee with oversight of the Endangered Species Act, told members of the National Governors Association Sunday that work â??on the ground, and at the state levelâ?? is an important source of better ideas for species conservation. â??Your wildlife managers are finding ways to break the gridlock holding up progressive conservation results,â?? Crapo said. â??This is making the best use of the ESA and providing the ideas that Congress needs to renew the ESA and make it more effective.â?? Crapo, who chairs the Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke to the Natural Resources Committee of the NGA about ESA reform. Crapo concurred with the findings of an NGA study summarizing ESA efforts in Idaho, Oregon, and Colorado. â??These states demonstrate what many states have shown-that governors and their state wildlife managers are able partners in species conservation,â?? Crapo said. â??For years, federal wildlife managers have carried the entire workload, but we can accomplish more conservation if we put the whole team to work. â??Cooperative efforts are key to the future of the ESA because we need to build trust among the various interests in species conservation,â?? Crapo said. â??Not since 1997 has the Senate even come close to renewing and updating the ESA. This gridlock is based on distrust. However, I believe we can find agreement where all parties can see obvious conservation success on the ground. What works for species and people on the ground should guide the members of Congress who write the law. â??Species recovery has become complex at the federal level. It really begins and ends with two components: conservation efforts and people. We have spent 30 years now under the ESA by stopping harm to species,â?? Crapo added. â??Letâ??s focus the next 30 years on progressive actions leading to recovery and success stories.â??# # #