Western Governors' Association



	Resolutions Sage Grouse Conservation (2005) Conservation Efforts Regarding Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (2004) De-listing of Endangered Species (2003) Reauthorization and Amendment of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (2003) Invasive Species (2005) A Workable, More Effective Endangered Species Act -- 2001 briefing paper (PDF) Letters & Testimony Testimony before the Senate Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee (9-21-05) Governors' letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Resources (2/25/05) Environmental Groups' response to the Governors’ letter to Congress (3/11/05) Rep. Nick Rahall's letter in response to the Governors' letter to Congress (4/8/05) Western State Land Commissioners letter supporting Governors' position (4/21/05) Govs. column for Headwaters News on the success of sage-grouse conservation across the West and the need to modernize the ESA. WGA Contact Kevin Moran Shaun McGrath

Endangered Species Act

A more workable Endangered Species Act (ESA) remains a legislative priority of the Western Governors. Western states and communities deal with the effects of proposals and decisions made under the ESA on a daily basis. Therefore, Western states urge Congress to undertake comprehensive improvements in the way the Endangered Species Act is implemented and funded.

Govs. Freudenthal and Owens discuss WGA’s
proposed improvements to the ESA at WGA’s Annual Meeting in June.

In their policy resolution 03-15, "Reauthorization and Amendment of the Endangered Species Act of 1973," the governors identified a number of ways that Congress can work with the states to improve the act. In short, the Western Governors believe that the Endangered Species Act of 1973 could be made more workable if it were amended to include the following:

increased role for states;
increased certainty and technical assistance for landowners and water users;
increased and stabilized funding for the states; and
streamlined provisions in the Act, for example, by providing for statewide, multi-species strategies.

Endangered Species Act Executive Summit

WGA convened an Endangered Species Act Executive ESA Executive Summit Dec. 3-4, 2004 to solicit recommendations from a broad array of Western interests on ideas for ESA reform. As a follow-up to the summit, on February 25, 2005, Govs. Bill Owens and Dave Freudenthal, lead governors for ESA issues, sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Resources. The governors said Congress should make “common-sense changes to the Endangered Species Act a priority.”

Govs. Owens and Freudenthal said the Western governors “applaud the principles of the ESA and have maintained a long-standing interest in improving species recovery efforts by making the process more efficient and providing more effective incentives for state and private conservation activities.

“We recently held an Endangered Species Act summit in which we brought together a very diverse set of stakeholders to discuss ways in which the Act could be improved,” the governors said. “The consensus coming out of the summit was that there are many steps we can take together to update and modernize this thirty-year old law. We share the desire of summit participants to increase the effectiveness of the Act and enhance its success in recovering and protecting endangered species.”