FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2000
Contact: Brock Evans, Executive Director;
Endangered Species Coalition;
(202) 682-9400x132.

Ed Lytwak;
Communications Director;
Endangered Species Coalition;
(202) 682-9400x131.

Endangered Species Leader Blasts Clinton Administration "Hypocrisy" in "Promoting Extinction"

A powerful national coalition of religious, scientific, and environmental groups, charging "hypocrisy" on the part of the Clinton Administration, today strongly attacked an order from the Director of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service refusing to give any further protection to most species facing extinction for the next ten months.

The order, signed by Fish and Wildlife Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clarke, directed all agency staff to "immediately stop work on any [endangered species] listing actions not under court order or settlement agreement," claiming that the Agency did not have the funds to do the required work. "Listing" refers to an official evaluation of scientific data about the status of an imperiled species' ecological health necessary before a species can be placed on the "endangered" list, under the terms of the Endangered Species Act. Once listed, that species then is entitled to a full range of federal protections.

"This cynical move by the very agency which is supposed to be the guardian of our country's wildlife could amount to a death warrant for the 25 species now awaiting their chance of rescue," said Brock Evans, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. An angry Evans, observing that Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt, has since 1997 "deliberately and intentionally" requested the Congress to NOT give them sufficient funds to list species, asserted that for the Agency to then claim lack of funding "is hypocrisy on a grand scale, and it is because they are mad at environmentalists for getting court orders to make them do what they don't want to do even though the law absolutely requires them to act."

Evans was referring to a series of court orders obtained by environmental groups over the past four years directing the Agency to designate areas of "critical habitat," as required by law, for species already listed. The Agency claims that such designations are unnecessary; environmentalists and scientists strongly disagree, saying that wildlife can't survive without protected habitat..

"They are playing a deadly political game, almost out of spite, it seems," said Evans. "And it is our endangered wild creatures who can't vote or fight back who will be the losers. We invite the Clinton Administration to join with us and seek emergency funding in the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress, instead of seeking scapegoats and risking loss of our heritage."

The Endangered Species Coalition, founded in 1982, is a unique Coalition of nearly 450 member religious, scientific, sportsman's, business, and humane organizations whose purpose is to defend and strengthen the Endangered Species Act, our nation's strongest environmental law. ###

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Here is the memo from Director Jamie Clark suspending listing of new species. November 17, 2000

MEMORANDUM

TO: Regional Directors, Regions 1-7
FROM: Director /s/ Jamie Rappaport Clark
SUBJECT: Listing Workload

As most of you already know, the large amount of litigation over critical habitat has resulted in numerous court orders and settlement agreements. Complying with these orders and settlement agreements will consume nearly all or all of the Service's listing budget for FY2001. Any funding we may have available for discretionary listing actions will likely be allocated for emergency listings only. Those listing actions for which we have funding this fiscal year will be included with the FY2001 allocations.

Because the fiscal year already has begun, some Regions have raised questions about whether they are to stop work on packages in progress that are not subject to court orders and settlement agreements. Regions also have questioned whether they should be responding to petitions. Regions should immediately stop work on any listing actions not under court order or settlement agreement, unless the listing action was funded with FY2000 funds and the Region has unobligated FY 2000 funds sufficient to complete the action. Final actions already in the Washington office may proceed.

It will not be practicable for the Service to respond to any new petitions this fiscal year. We fund petitions from our listing allocation, which has been fully consumed by court-ordered actions and actions under settlement agreement. We can continue to place species on the candidate list, however, if we believe there is enough information to support their addition to the list. Candidate conservation funds should be used for those actions.