U.S. congressional calls to weaken the Endangered Species Act is tantamount to blasphemy, say local environmentalists.
"The commandment given in Eden to tend the garden was never revoked," said Paul Cox, botany professor at Brigham Young University. "To revoke the Endangered Species Act is to declare war on creation."Almost 150 students gathered for a panel discussion this week at the University of Utah in response to rumors the act is being stretched across the Capitol Hill chopping block.
Enacted in 1973 to identify and protect plants and animals in peril, the law has preserved countless species intrinsic to Utah's fragile ecosystem, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Larry England.
"The bald eagle and the peregrine falcon have the Endangered Species Act to thank for their survival . . . but other Utah animals, like the June sucker in Utah Lake, are almost gone," said England.
"We need to remember, we're the stewards of our environment."
The scope of the act goes far beyond its revered symbols like the whooping crane and the California gray whale, said Cox, adding that endangered plants deserve heightened protection.
"Only one-tenth of one percent of the world's plants have been tested for their medicinal value," he said. "Plants that have yet to be examined may hold the answer for AIDS."
Cox called for a 10-year land development moratorium in wilderness areas so more indigenous plants can be examined, saying "Today's bulldozers could knock down tomorrow's cure for cancer, we're foolish to destroy what we cannot create."
Glen Spain, regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, admonished students to form coalitions to ensure a local voice.