Representative
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

RE: Protect the Endangered Species Act!

Dear Representative ,

The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, fish, and plants on the brink of extinction. Representative Richard Pombo (R-CA), chairman of the House Resources Committee, has plans to introduce legislation that would aggressively strip the Endangered Species Act of its strongest protections. Please oppose this bill, and any efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act.

For more than 30 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected America's fish and wildlife by preventing the extinction of more than 99 percent of listed species. From bald eagles to coho salmon to manatees, the act's protections have kept our nation's most rare species with us.

In spite of polls that show that nearly 90 percent of Americans support the Endangered Species Act, Representative Pombo's bill would seriously undermine the landmark law and its ability to continue to protect species. The bill would reduce the Act's effectiveness in nearly all aspects and ultimately eradicate all protections for threatened and endangered species. It would eliminate the requirement to recover endangered species, reduce protection of threatened species and critical habitat areas, politicize and eliminate scientific decision-making, eliminate independent federal oversight, bury federal biologists under mountains of useless paperwork, bankrupt the federal agencies by diverting conservation funds to pay landowners and corporation to obey the law, and encourage an increase in industry litigation

Had this bill been made law in 1973 instead of the Endangered Species Act, there would be no bald eagles, wolves, grizzly bears, Florida panthers, or desert pupfish in the continental U.S. today. If it is made law in the future, hundreds of endangered species could become extinct.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect threatened fish and wildlife and the places they call home. Please stand up for the wishes of the vast majority of Americans, and for our priceless natural heritage, and oppose any bill that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.