House votes to revamp Endangered Species Act

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http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=ENDANGERED-09-29-05&cat=WW

House votes to revamp Endangered Species Act
By JAMES W. BROSNAN
Scripps Howard News Service
September 29, 2005

WASHINGTON - Property owners would gain the upper hand over the Silvery Minnow, the Mexican Spotted Owl and other rare wildlife under a major revision of the 32-year-old Endangered Species Act that cleared the House Thursday.

The House voted 222-193 to weaken the government's power to force landowners to protect endangered species. Under the bill the government could no longer order property owners and local governments to protect critical habitat for the plants and wildlife. But the government could develop recovery plans for species and would have to pay landowners who participate.

The Congressional Budget Office said the measure could nearly double the annual cost of enforcing the act, to more than $600 million a year, because of the payments to landowners. The White House Office of Management and Budget said President Bush supports the reforms, but expressed reservations about the "significant budgetary impact."

The measure would become the first major revision to the Endangered Species Act and marks a victory a major victory for ranchers, farmers, developers and miners over conservation groups. But its fate in the Senate is unclear.

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