Support the Endangered Species Act!

I am writing to strongly oppose the Bush administration's budget proposal that will allow Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who has declared the Endangered Species Act unconstitutional, to have exclusive discretion over species listing and identification of critical habitat.

I am urging you to support a substantial increase in funding for the listing of endangered species and identification of critical habitat. The Administration's request of $8.47 million for listing and critical habitat is not sufficient to address the backlog of species awaiting the protections of the ESA, which the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates will cost between $80 million and $120 million.

This under-funding has contributed to the extinction of no less than 39 species over the past 20 years. Insufficient funding for the listing and critical habitat programs has forced citizens to take federal agencies to court in order to get valuable species protected, such as the Atlantic and Pacific salmon, the Jaguar and the Canada lynx. Bush's anti-environmental rider proposal would cease this type of citizen involvement to promote species survival.

I find the Bush Administration's continuance to threaten the purpose of the Endangered Species Act to protect valuable parts of our nation's natural heritage unacceptable. Please defend our nation's imperiled species and the citizen's right to defend them in the courts.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned