Posted on 11/21/2001 8:44:13 AM PST by enraged
Contact: Duane Desiderio, NAHB Director of Legal Services & Litigation 202-266-8146 OR Beth Bauer, OBIA Executive Vice-President 503-378-9066, EXT. 3 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NMFS OFFICIAL ADMITS CRITICAL HABITAT DESIGNATIONS FOR SALMON AND STEELHEAD ARE BASELESS
NMFS official remarks "We just designate everything as critical, without an analysis of how much habitat a [species] needs"
Salem, OR. (November 16, 2001) - The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has uncovered a document in which a high-ranking National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) official admits that NMFS' critical habitat designations for west coast salmonids are baseless.
The Endangered Species Act limits critical habitat designations to only those areas that are "essential to the conservation of the species," and it requires NMFS to weigh the economic impacts of critical habitat protection before it is designated.
In an intra-agency memorandum, Donna Darm, who was NMFS acting Regional Administrator for the Northwest until October 1, said: "When we make critical habitat designations we just designate everything as critical, without an analysis of how much habitat an ESU needs . . . ." Darm added that no analysis of habitat need was performed "because we lack information."
NMFS has designated "everything" as critical habitat in over 150 watersheds blanketing California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The designations have enormous regulatory impacts on the use of land and water because the Endangered Species Act prohibits any federal project, permit, or federally funded action from "adversely modifying" critical habitat. Federal critical habitat is also a key trigger for many state and local land use restrictions.
The regulatory demands of critical habitat are applied through a process called "consultation" under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. The document uncovered by NAHB includes comments by Ms. Darm on NMFS' development of a habitat approach to consultation. She summarized NMFS' habitat approach, now used in all consultations, as follows: "We just say we need it all."
In a reference to the recent Alsea Valley Alliance court ruling invalidating NMFS' listing of Oregon coastal coho salmon as a threatened species, NAHB spokesman Duane Desiderio called Darm's statements "an example of NMFS' careless approach to ESA enforcement that has called all of its species listing decisions into question." Desiderio added, "critical habitat designations will be the next bricks to fall out of NMFS' regulatory wall."
In court papers filed in September with a federal district court in California, NMFS conceded that it failed to consider the economic impacts of critical habitat designations for salmon and steelhead, but argued that designations should remain in effect while NMFS conducts a review limited to economic issues.
The plaintiffs in the California lawsuit, and the NAHB, which has filed a similar lawsuit in Washington, D.C., maintain that NMFS' failure to consider economics, alone, is reason to invalidate its critical habitat designations. However, the documents recently uncovered by NAHB confirm that NMFS' critical habitat designations also lack any scientific foundation.
The NAHB leads a coalition of eight trade associations, including the Oregon Building Industry Association, and eight counties from four states who are challenging NMFS' critical habitat designations in a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C. The Oregon Building Industry Association filed comments during the open comment period on critical habitat designation in 1998 and is one of the original plaintiffs in the litigation. The lawsuit also challenges NMFS' designation of "essential fish habitat" for Pacific salmon on similar grounds. NMFS consults with federal agencies on essential fish habitat effects pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Management Act.
Documents and court papers referred to in this release are available on the internet at www.obia.net
Curious coincidence that this chunk of dirt would happen to surface only after the arrogant and foolish Ms. Darm had left the agency. Perhaps they've seen the (delisting) writing on the wall, and they're casting about for a scapegoat.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, I love you all!! You too, _Jim.
God Bless America!
One look at Klamath Lake....will speak volumes at the utter stupidity of denying the farmers the water.
But the real issue is control....and as long as the 'sheeple' buy the fake 'science'...the government will keep trying to sell it.
redrock
Happy Thanksgiving AuntB!
....and HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU!!!
God Bless America!!!
Stop enviro-nazis terrorism, now !!
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!!!
God Bless America!!!!!
:o)
However, I am sick and tired of posters who refuse to properly reference the articles they post. If they refuse to use actual titles of the articles and refuse to provide links that actually go directly to the articles they post, they deserve to get nailed.
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