Congress Set To Attack American Wildlife This Week

WASHINGTON – This week Congress will turn its attention to a series of bills that threaten to undermine the Endangered Species Act. Today, the House Natural Resources Committee is holding a legislative hearing on a suite of nine bills that would weaken the Endangered Species Act by undermining the role of science in listing decisions, limiting citizens’ ability to enforce the law and making it harder for species to gain protections under the landmark law. In addition, the Committee passed a bill today that would remove federal protections for gray wolves across the country. On Thursday the Committee will mark up four of the nine anti-ESA bills.

Following is reaction from Nora Apter, legislative advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):

“These bills are not just an assault on our natural heritage—they take aim at science, public participation in government, as well as one of the nation’s most popular and successful laws. Congress should listen to the four-in-five Americans who support the Endangered Species Act and reject these egregious proposals.”

For more information on the bills, hearing and markup visit Apter’s blog at https://www.nrdc.org/experts/nora-apter/groundhog-day-gray-wolves-endangered-species

For a letter signed by 51 groups opposing the package, see https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/letter-to-congress-opposing-expanded-wildlife-extinction-package_2018-09-25.pdf

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​