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TODAY Wednesday 25 February 1998 Each weekday. Conn Nugent on what's new in the world, on the site.

 

TODAY IN THE WORLD: Cutting a Deal on Endangered Species

Bruce Babbitt is having a rough time these days, and not just about those Indian casinos. He has announced his support of a compromise re-authorization of the Endangered Species Act, and is being cuffed around by enviros for the privilege.

The bill is co-sponsored by Republicans of very different stripes, Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho and John Chafee of Rhode Island. Two years ago Kempthorne introduced an Endangered Species Act proposal that Chafee opposed and environmental groups uniformly loathed. This year's version -- which was just approved 15-3 by the relevant committee -- restores most of the ESA protections for species on federal land that the 1996 proposal reduced, but makes peace with Kempthorne's insistence that the Fish and Wildlife Service work more cooperatively with private landowners. Owners of property with endangered or threatened species on it should be able to count on negotiating a plan to help spur recovery of the species and to call upon federal financial incentives established for those purposes. Once such a plan is in place, the landowner should be assured of "no surprises" in the future by way of new restrictions.

Secretary Babbitt has long been a "no surprises" backer eager to avoid the "train wrecks" of adversarial litigation. He has regularly endorsed once-and-for-all negotiations between government and property holder that result in Conservation Development Plans. His support of the new Kempthorne-Chafee bill is not ardent, but he describes it as "an excellent start." The federal government, he says, "simply must have the support of private landowners to preserve species."

Environmentalists take issue with the bill if not the sentiment (for a green critique, check in with command central for the Endangered Species Coalition at the National Environmental Trust). In sum, the enviros are saying that the Kempthorne-Chafee provisions will apply only to corporations and individuals with unusually large holdings; that the procedures outlined are weighted toward the property owners instead of toward the wildlife; that widespread application of Conservation Development Plans will depend on tax incentives by no means assured of passage; and that in any case scientific evidence increasingly documents the failure of most CDPs to embrace ecosystems wide enough to afford reliable protection to threatened species.

Here is a classic half-a-loaf disagreement among erstwhile allies. No doubt the Secretary would be gratified if the environmental lobby were to graft some extra protections onto Kempthorne-Chafee, but he appears to be ready to cut a bipartisan deal. Don't bet against it.

 

TODAY ON THE SITE

For those interested in the most sure-fire way to rescue endangered species -- increasing wilderness areas -- check into our High Fives section for Susan Alexander's recommendations on pertinent Websites.

 

Recent "Today" columns:

2/24: Fire? Again?
2/23: Garbage
2/20: Population Rebellion in the Sierra Club
2/19: The Trouble With Cattle
2/18: Optimistic Feds and the Future of Kyoto
2/17: The New Great Game
2/13: Windmills
2/12: Stuart Eizenstat's Smart Bomb
2/11: Alligator in the Coal Mine
2/10: Inconvenient Public Opinion
2/9: Remember Penn Station
2/6: Adam Smith and Automobile Efficiency
2/5: Clean Water, Naturally
2/4: Roll, Storms, Roll
2/3: Land Purchase Fever
2/2: Groundhog Day in the Persian Gulf
1/30: Trees and Hormones
1/29: Things To Come (2)
1/28: Things To Come
1/27: 'Bye, 'Bye Brazil
1/26: Jaywalking and Jaydriving
1/23: Good Biotech, Bad Biotech
1/22: No More Roads
1/21: Swordfish

To access more "Today" columns, click "Archives" below.