Last month, the current administration unveiled proposed revisions to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposal would weaken the law enacted 45 years ago to keep plant and animal species that are in decline from going extinct.
The public comment period closes Monday, September 24th. We need your voice today. Thank you to those who have already submitted a comment and sent a letter to Congress. If you haven’t already, here’s your chance to speak up for the ESA.
If enacted, the proposed revisions will:
If enacted, the protection and survival of our endangered and threatened species and the habitats that sustain them will be at risk. On behalf of so many of our native fish that are in need of the protections afforded by the ESA, please submit comments today urging the administration to withdraw their proposed regulation changes. Let’s save the law that saves our native fish.
Submit your comments about the ESA proposal to the government before the comment period ends on September 24, 2018. Use the sample below or write your own.
Dear Secretary Zinke and Secretary Ross,
As a Californian who values the vitality of native fish species and healthy waters, I do NOT support the proposed revisions to the implementing regulations for the Endangered Species Act (ESA). I ask that you withdraw the proposed changes to the regulations in Section 4, 7, and the regulations governing section 4(d).
The changes to section 4 of the ESA would not aid our endangered species, but would instead undermine the listing process by introducing economic concerns that should not factor in the listing of species. Section 7 of the ESA holds perhaps the most crucial constraints on federal actions, and these proposed revisions would destroy the consultation provisions of the ESA. Section 4(d) prevents the take of threatened species and the proposed changes would seriously hinder recovery and jeopardize the long-term health of threatened species as we know them.
There are 11 native salmonids that are listed as federally threatened. If present trends continue, 45% of California’s native salmon, steelhead, and trout are likely to be extinct in 50 years and 74% in 100 years. We cannot let things get worse.
I urge you to keep our Endangered Species Act strong and protect our currently endangered and threatened species – as originally intended – and protect those that may face the consequences of climate change in the future.
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More information:
Save Our Salmonids II: Fish in Hot Water
“ENDANGERED SPECIES: 4 things to know about Trump’s ESA overhaul,” E&E news
Photo: Will Boucher
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Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.
20 Comments
It is shameful to attack the Endangered Species Act. Don’t you have children and grandchildren?
Hi David. We are trying to defend the Endangered Species Act. Will you join us by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001 and show your support? Thanks!
Please protect the Endangered Species Act.
We are trying our best! Will you join us by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? Thanks!
Nature needs our protection. Defend it with the endangered species act.
Thanks Arlene, we stand with you! Will you join us by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001 to defend the ESA? Today’s our last chance!
Extinct is forever. Protect the endangered species act!!!
We stand with you! Will you join us by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? You can use our sample comment on our website or write your own. Today’s our last chance to comment!
Protect endangered species!
We stand with you Alex! Will you join us by submitting a public comment to protect the ESA to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? Today’s the last day to comment. Thanks!
Please protect endangered species. Each species has something unique that can be offered to mankind such as specific chemical compounds that can have qualities that are beneficial such as medications and technological advances. Also our decendants should have the opportunuty to experience everything that these species have to offer. Many of these endangered species also are essential to the survival many other species’ existence in some way or other. We are all co-existant in ways not quite apparent until studied or gone. Mother Earth is not quite as wonderful or miraculous as without the endangered animals as fellow inhabitants.
We agree and stand with you Randall! Will you submit your comment so that our officials can hear your voice at https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? Today is our last day to comment. Thanks!
Protect the endangered species act! In doing so, we protect ourselves.
We are doing our best! Thanks for standing with us Barbara. Will you join us to defend the ESA by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? Today is our last chance for the government to hear our voice to protect the ESA. Thanks!
Please protect the Endangered Species Act
Thanks for your support Sophie, we are doing our best. Will you join us by submitting a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? Today is our last chance to let the government know we want to protect the Endangered Species Act!
I am a Californian urging you to quit watering down the Endangered Species Act; that is, before we get bitten in the ass ourselves.
Thanks for your comment Daniel. Will you submit this to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001 so that the ones making this decision can hear your voice? Join us to protect the Endangered Species Act. Today is our last day to comment.
Please protect the Endangered Species Act!
Hi Dee, we are doing our best! But we need your voice. Will you submit a public comment to https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0007-0001? You can use our sample letter found on our website or write your own. Today is our last chance to comment. Thanks!