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Designation ignores proper input from the public, could impact private property, and cost local farmers and landowners thousands of dollars. 

Washington, D.C., May 15 - Congressman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Dan Ashe expressing concern over the USFWS hastily listing the White Bluffs Bladderpod under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and seeking to finalize a critical habitat designation next week. In the letter, Hastings urges Director Ashe to immediately halt efforts to enforce this designation, allow the public at least 60 days’ extension for meaningful comment, and to allow a public hearing for impacted farmers and landowners to express their concerns. Click here to read the full letter.

“Because the right to one’s private property is a fundamental right protected by our Constitution, when federal rules and regulations might impact such rights, as here, I firmly believe that extra caution should be exercised by the federal government,” wrote Hastings. “As you know, I have been highly critical of the Department of Interior’s negotiation of settlements behind closed doors with litigious groups that frequently petition and file Endangered Species Act-related lawsuits against the federal government, because they defy transparency and accountability, and raise questions regarding the Service’s ESA management priorities. These settlements also ignore input from states and local entities that are most affected by the potential ESA listing or critical habitat designation. Without a reasonable extension, it would confirm my criticism has been justified.”

Background:
Last month, Hastings called the listing “the latest example of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s reacting to self-imposed deadlines from a closed-door settlement with a litigious environmental group.” The White Bluffs Bladderpod is found on thousands of acres near the Hanford National Monument in Franklin County and Benton County, Washington. The critical habitat designation for the Bladderpod includes over 400 acres of privately-owned land as habitat, which could cost over $300,000 in lost irrigated agriculture value.

This announcement follows two court settlements in 2011 between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians that require the USFWS to determine whether 757 different plant or animal species should be listed as endangered before 2018. The Bladderpod, as well as the Umtanum Desert buckwheat species, was petitioned for Endangered Species Act listing by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2004.

As Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee with jurisdiction over the Endangered Species Act, Hastings has promised to closely examine actions to determine what improvements might be necessary to the Act to ensure the local community, private property, and the public’s right to access public lands are protected.

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