ESA "No Surprises" (fwd)

[Stephen P. Rae]

Doug:

Please provide full address, I assume it is Carlsbad, CA 92008.

And, for your information, the State of California is considering the same
policy under the name "safe harbors".

Steve

At 05:21 PM 4/24/97 -0300, Doug Yanega wrote:
>I'm not in a position to write in regarding this, but there are probably
>many folks on this list (and the ones I'm crossposting to) who CAN get
>letters in by the deadline. Apologies to non-US listmembers...but we've got
>a sneaky batch of politicians and sometimes e-mail is our last hope for
>scientific unity. ;-)
>
>>Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 14:35:38 +0600
>>Reply-To: bene at straylight.tamu.edu
>>Originator: bene at straylight.tamu.edu
>>Sender: bene at straylight.tamu.edu
>>Precedence: none
>>From: Michael Schindel <mschinde at spock.dfg.ca.gov>
>>To: Multiple recipients of list <bene at straylight.tamu.edu>
>>Subject: ESA "No Surprises" (fwd)
>>X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
>>X-Comment: Biodiversity and Ecosystems NEtwork (BENE) Email ListServer
>>
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> The Fish and Wildlife Service recently implemented 10 policies to make
>> the Endangered Species Act less onerous to industry. The most extreme of
>> these policies is known as "No Surprises". This policy has been written
>> into hundreds of Habitat Conservation Plans which have resulted in
>> Incidental Take for numerous listed species.
>>
>> "No Surprises" is intended to provide certainty for industry. The
>> "Habitat Conservation Planning Handbook" published by the USFWS(pages
>> 3-27 to 3-32) states,
>>
>>        if unforseen circumstances occur during the life of an HCP, the
>>        FWS and NMFS will not require additional lands, additional
>>        funds, or additional restrictions on lands or other natural
>>        resources released for development or use...in cases where the
>>        status of a species addressed under an HCP worsens, the primary
>>        obligation for implementing additional conservation measures
>>        would be borne by the Federal government, other governmental
>>        agencies, private conservation organizations, or other private
>>        landholders who have not yet developed an HCP.
>>
>> The Service implemented this policy without public comment and notice.
>> A suit filed last Halloween, "Spirit of the Sage, et al vs. Bruce
>> Babbitt", forced the FWS to full public review of "No Surprises". Because
>> the policy is included in virtually every Incidental Take Permit issued
>> in recent history, as well as those in process, this decision opens the
>> administrative record to comments on specific HCPs as well as the policy
>> itself. However, the comment period ends on April 28th.
>>
>> Your letters are desperately needed. "No Surprises" has profound
>> implications for land-use policy and endangered species. Because this
>> issue has not received much publicity, many of the people who are
>> qualified to comment were not informed. The service must base its
>> decision upon the input received from the public. As few as 100 letters
>> will decide whether the public will pay for the impacts of private
>> industry on this country's biodiversity.
>>
>> Your letters should be sent to;
>>
>>                        Sherry Barrett
>>                        Fish and Wildlife Service
>>                        Carlsbad Field Office
>>                        2730 Loker Ave. West
>>                        Carlsbad Field Office
>>                        92008
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> ***************************************************************************
>>                The views expressed above are strictly my own
>> ***************************************************************************
>>
>
>Doug Yanega    Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
>Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG   BRAZIL
>phone: 031-448-1223, fax: 031-44-5481  (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
>                  http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
>  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
>
Stephen P. Rae