Effort by Idaho Republican to cut all new endangered species listings is stripped out of the critical 2012 Interior Budget Bill-
Dicks’ amendment to DOI Appropriations bill in the House passes!!
House Appropriations subcommitte chair Mike Simpson of Eastern Idaho figured he had it all lined up to abolish the listing of endangered species by saying no money could be spent to list new species in the upcoming fiscal year. He wrote it into the majority party’s bill, but Democrats almost unanimously opposed his pro-extinction section when it came to the floor of the House and 37 Republicans would not stomach the radical action either. Simpson’s “let-them-just-go-extinct-section” was taken out of the bill on 224-202 vote in favor of Norm Dick’s Washington State Democrat amendment.
Story in the The Hill. House restores Endangered Species Act listings; GOP splits in vote. By Pete Kasperowicz
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project.
keeping track of the amendments to the bill is kind of interesting.
unfortunately, there the Dick’s amendment does nothing to curtail the ‘death to bighorn’ provision, nor livestock grazing issues in the bill …
Guess we need to keep on truckin’.
Sadly, it’s true that other efforts to make the DOI Appropriations bills less bad failed. Welfare ranchers won while the rest of us have our basic benefits threatened by the Republican radicals.
http://is.gd/LhCBGk
How does someone go from trying to protect the Whiteclouds to this? Did the Livestock Gurus offer a few Million? I haven’t followed it close enough but this seems strange compared to what he was trying to do.
I think you hit the nail on the head. he went to the higgest bidder, the livestock industry.
Livestock owners are the ones who are kill crazy. They are so against the wolves. I am tired of them getting away with murdering the wolves.
The Governors are just as bad.
Unfortunately, Simpson has some other dirty tricks up his sleeve. Please write a post about the grazing and bighorn riders (http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/07/29/29greenwire-esa-rider-averted-but-some-species-remain-in-c-75822.html) and urge all your readers to contact their congresscritter.
Thanks!