Industry leaders and associations representing rural America released statements following introduction of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Amendments Act of 2024 by Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (AR-04).
“Farm Bureau supports amending and updating the Endangered Species Act to accommodate both endangered and threatened species protection and human needs. We appreciate the work of the Endangered Species Act Working Group and this bill from Co-Chairs Bruce Westerman and Dan Newhouse. This is a thoughtful bill that responds to farmers’ and ranchers’ calls for a modernized ESA that encourages voluntary conservation work and focuses on species recovery and habitat conservation in a way that respects landowners.” - Sam Kieffer, Vice President, Public Policy, American Farm Bureau Federation
“The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 offers commonsense reforms to a key environmental law that, unfortunately, has been used to stop proactive and science-based forest management work on federal lands for the past 30 years. The American Forest Resource Council supports this legislation as a solution for wildfire mitigation, healthy forests, clean air and water, and quality wildlife habitat for all species.” – Travis Joseph, President, American Forest Resource Council
“Fifty years of changing regulatory approaches has led implementation of the Endangered Species Act to become less focused on successful conservation and more on provisions and agency actions that could unnecessarily delay important development projects. The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 reinvigorates Congress’ original intent by providing among other things, clarifying definitions for key conservation concepts, requiring species listing based on the best science and data available, incentivizing critical private landowner involvement, and requiring the US Fish and Wildlife Service to develop and submit to Congress a National Listing Working Plan with species prioritization. API appreciates Chairman Westerman and Chairman Newhouse’s leadership on this important issue.” – Holly Hopkins, Vice President of Upstream Policy, American Petroleum Institute (API)
“Complex, outdated regulations should not create obstacles to delivering safe transportation infrastructure Americans rely on every day. ARTBA supports the ESA Amendments Act because it provides common sense updates to the Endangered Species Act, such as requiring transparency in using scientific data, setting clear timelines for species reviews, and curbing excessive mitigation demands. These reforms will help keep improvements to roads and bridges on the right track by helping prevent unnecessary delays, while maintaining strong environmental protections.” - Prianka Sharma, Vice President and Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)
“For 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has been an important tool in conservation and protection measures; however, it has become weaponized for the purposes of controlling lands and waters rather than actually saving species. More stringent regulations don’t promote successful species recovery, but they do hurt industries, the local communities that support them, and the entire nation which depends on products and services provided by our domestic natural resources. We need commonsense reform that implements practical protections and promotes greater transparency and accountability in recovering listed species. We support the ESA Amendments Act of 2024 and look forward to working with Representative Newhouse and Chairman Westerman and other members of the Congressional Western Caucus to see this implemented into law.” – Chris Greissing, President, Essential Minerals Association
“The Forest Landowners Association commends Chairman Westerman and Chairman Newhouse for introducing the ESA Amendments Act of 2024. This bill would provide much needed modernization to the Endangered Species Act to incentivize species recovery and collaborative conservation on private lands while recognizing the host of environmental and economic benefits that working forests provide. We look forward to working with the bill's sponsors to streamline the ESA in a way that increases transparency and helps to achieve meaningful conservation outcomes on the ground.” – Scott Jones, CEO, Forest Landowners Association
“For too long, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been weaponized to list species under non-science-based criteria to the detriment of real conservation. Farmers and ranchers have witnessed the harm that comes from politically motivated species listings and the dangers that come from recovered predators that become a direct threat to producers’ personal safety and economic success. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is proud to endorse the ESA Amendments Act of 2024 and thanks Rep. Dan Newhouse and Rep. Bruce Westerman for their work to improve the ESA. This bill will make the ESA a real tool for conservation, foster transparency, and accountability, and ensure that the environmental contributions from farmers and ranchers are properly recognized.” - Mark Eisele, Wyoming rancher and President, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
“The National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition (NESARC) supports the introduction of the ESA Amendments Act of 2024 and expresses gratitude to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Westerman and Western Caucus Chairman Newhouse for leading a comprehensive effort through the bipartisan ESA Working Group to develop legislation that will offer overdue improvements to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For over 50 years, the ESA has been one of our nation’s strongest environmental laws. While the original intent of the ESA was to conserve and protect American species of plants and wildlife that are threatened with extinction, the law has been increasingly used to block projects and to deter the legal use of privately owned land. NESARC and its members are committed to promoting effective and balanced legislative and regulatory improvements to the ESA that support the protection of fish, wildlife, and plant populations as well as responsible land, water, and resource management. NESARC looks forward to continuing to work with the champions of this legislation as the measure moves through the legislative process.” – National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition (NESARC)
“Our industry continues to support protections to improve species and habitat recovery, but those efforts should always be made in a way that considers the need for land access for multiple uses and responsible resource development. The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 correctly strikes a balance between the increasing need for transparency and accountability of recovery programs, all while providing a pathway to prioritize conservation activities, including those on private lands. This legislation is the result of valuable work by Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and the Committee on Natural Resources, Chairman Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) and the Congressional Western Caucus, and their continued engagement with a broad range of interested stakeholders.” – Rich Nolan, President & CEO, National Mining Association
"NRECA applauds the introduction of the ESA Amendments Act of 2024, which takes significant steps in modernizing endangered species protection by improving certainty, transparency, and accountability in the ESA regulatory process. Electric cooperatives are dedicated stewards of their environments, but bear the brunt of expanding agency overreach and navigating a complex regulatory landscape. We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Westerman, Chairman Newhouse, and the ESA Working Group work to ensure that co-ops can protect the nation’s natural resources while providing responsible, reliable, and affordable power to America’s rural communities." – Louis Finkel, Senior Vice President of Government Relations, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
“The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 would improve incentives to recover vulnerable species by rewarding progress toward recovery with incremental regulatory relief. It also encourages voluntary conservation by states and private landowners, while reducing regulatory conflict. With a mere three percent recovery rate over the last 50 years, creative solutions like these are urgently needed to achieve the Endangered Species Act’s ultimate goal of recovering species.”- Jonathan Wood, Vice President of Law and Policy, Property and Environment Research Center
“Since it was passed into law over 50 years ago, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has undergone several rulemakings that have weaponized this conservation tool against ranchers and working lands. The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 will safeguard the efficient operation of farms and ranches across the West and stop government red tape from getting in the way of extensive, voluntary conservation work already happening on our public lands. This bill would modernize the ESA and help reform the law to make it an effective conservation tool, once again. The Public Lands Council and ranchers across the West thank Reps. Dan Newhouse and Bruce Westerman for introducing this legislation to give significant regulatory relief to livestock producers.” -
Mark Roeber, Colorado rancher and President, Public Lands Council
“Five decades of case law informed by radical environmental activists has transformed The Endangered Species Act (ESA) into a purgatory for wildlife. As sportsmen and women, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) takes seriously our commitment to wildlife conservation and believes we can and should do better. The ESA Amendments Act of 2024 represents a positive step towards returning the ESA to its original mission, ensuring already limited resources go towards species recovery, not fighting endless court battles. RMEF thanks Chairman Westerman for his leadership on this bill.” -
Kyle Weaver, President and CEO, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
“For too long, the ESA has been focused on process and litigation rather than actual conservation on-the-ground to protect and recover species. By being overly punitive, the implementation of ESA has perversely driven away potential partners in conservation. Chairmen Westerman and Newhouse’s bill would encourage conservation on private lands while rebalancing the Fish & Wildlife Service’s workload so that more effort is spent on species recovery rather than responding to bulk petitions meant to trip up the agency into futile processes that inevitably end up in the courtroom. Our members are happy to work with the agencies to protect species as long as there’s a true partnership that delivers real results and not just red tape meant to stop energy development.” – Kathleen Sgamma, President, Western Energy Alliance
