The Protect America’s Wildlife and Fish In Need of Conservation Act, (H.R. 4348)—also known as the PAW and FIN Conservation Act—introduced by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and 23 colleagues, received an important hearing in the House Natural Resources Committee today. This critical bill would stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from implementing irresponsible and dangerous rules designed to gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and decimate federal protections for our world’s most imperiled species.
Photo by Vanessa Mignon
This is one of the most important animal protection fights of our time, because it will impact animals, ecosystems, and people for generations to come. The FWS and NOAA final rules in question, published in August by the Trump Administration, would block vital and necessary conservation measures to protect species threatened with extinction. Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee Chairman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Ranking Member Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) did the nation a great service by holding a hearing during which critics could address the dangerous executive overreach these rules entail. Now, we must work together to prevent their implementation.
To date, the ESA has saved more than 99 percent of listed species from going extinct. If it is weakened it will be much more difficult to ensure that threatened and endangered animals, including species like the grizzly bear, African lions and elephants do not go extinct. It’s wrong for the administration to ignore the intentions of Congress and to prioritize corporate profit over the protection of at-risk wildlife.
In addition to H.R. 4348, the committee discussed two other bills endorsed by HSLF: the Supporting Activities and Leadership Abroad to Move Amphibians Nearing Decline or Extinction to Recovery (SALAMANDER) Act, H.R. 4340, and the Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Act (H.R. 4341). These measures would authorize vital funding for amphibian and endangered species, respectively, whose populations are in dangerous decline.
Chairman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) set the tone for the hearing by highlighting the weight of FWS’s recent decisions: “The changes [to the ESA] imposed by this administration would undermine the spirit and intent of the ESA and put more species at risk. At a time when scientists tell us we need to do more to address the anthropogenic causes of extinction, it’s inconceivable that the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA, the very agencies charged with protecting wildlife, could be making such devastating decisions.”
Speaking on behalf of the administration, Stephen Guertin, FWS Deputy Director for Policy, only offered reiterations of the FWS mantra that “the rules ensure that delistings are not held to a higher standard than listings” and “increase transparency for the public,” despite the rest of the hearing clearly demonstrating how with these rules, delistings are held to a much lower standard and, instead of increasing transparency, open a backdoor for political appointees to pander to industry over conservation.
The last several years have witnessed multiple threats to the Endangered Species Act, from both the executive branch and the Congress. We’ve stood in the gap, time after time, to defeat these measures, and we’re going to stand strong in this fight too, with congressional allies, with organizational partners, and with all those who want to uphold the strongest possible protection for wildlife species at risk.
