Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, came up with a novel way to end years of federal-local dispute over how to protect the threatened desert tortoise around St. George.
He attached an amendment this week to a Republican bill reforming the Endangered Species Act that simply writes into law Washington County's proposed Habitat Conservation Plan, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has refused to accept formally.In short, Hansen's amendment waves a magic wand and deems that the local plan is now fully in compliance with the Endangered Species Act - no matter what federal officials say to the contrary.
On top of that, it orders the government to appraise private property to be traded for a tortoise habitat preserve as if it contained no endangered or threatened species, which would result in a much higher value for owners.
Hansen made those changes as the full House Resources Committee passed its bill to reform the Endangered Species Act this week, which now goes to the full House.
Hansen told the committee that Washington County officials worked hard for five years to develop an acceptable Habitat Conservation Plan to set aside a large reserve for tortoises to allow development to proceed elsewhere around St. George.
"This represents an enormous sacrifice on the part of landowners, developers and the tax base of Washington County," he said.
"Although the plan has been agreed upon by (Interior Secretary Bruce) Babbitt, a rogue employee of the Fish and Wildlife Service has been able to thwart the process. Passage of this amendment is a great win for Washington County and the protection of the desert tortoise," Hansen said.
The amendment passed on a voice vote in the committee without opposition. Hansen wields power there as chairman of its Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands.
Hansen also won another major - and controversial - amendment to the Endangered Species Act this week by requiring federal officials to analyze the economic and social effects of adding a species to lists of threatened or endangered species.
"Although the listing of the species will still only consider the scientific and biological evidence, it is important that we understand the potential impacts that such a listing may have on the surrounding human population as soon as possible," he said.
He said such changes will "create a bill that is both beneficial to species as well as humans."
Hansen said that the original Endangered Species Act passed in 1964 "has simply become a tool by the extremists to stop legitimate development in this country."
But he said changes proposed by Republicans provide a new approach "by providing incentives for conserving and protecting species" by not punishing people whose land has such species, but adequately compensating them to help protect them.