[CPEO-MEF] Species act endangered?

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
Species act endangered?
Pan hampers military testing
By Jim Skeen
Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- A congressional armed services committee is
recommending changes to the federal Endangered Species Act, stating the
law is impeding military training and testing.

Environmentalists say, however, the changes are unnecessary and
unjustified, calling it a calculated move aimed at rolling back
environmental laws.

"They are using a time of insecurity and time of war to take down 30
years of conservation law," said Daniel Patterson, a biologist with the
Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued the federal government
repeatedly to enforce environmental laws.

In its version of the 2004 defense authorization bill, the House Armed
Services Committee is recommending changes in the Endangered Species Act
and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The desert tortoise, whose habitat
includes portions of Edwards Air Force Base, is listed as a threatened
species under the Endangered Species Act.

In a report to their House of Representatives colleagues, the committee
said its defense bill is recommending changes to the Endangered Species
Act that would prohibit further designation of critical habitat on
military bases where there is an Integrated Natural Resource Management
Plan. The Defense Department wanted the change to prevent the
fragmentation of testing and training areas.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20943~1398335,00.html

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