By Maddie Biertempfel | DC News Now
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Recovering animals that are nearing extinction, like the black-footed ferret, was the whole point of the 1973 Endangered Species Act but some lawmakers say it needs to be reformed.
“Is the program working as designed 50 years ago?’” Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) asked. “No, it’s been interpreted way beyond that, where it isn’t just the species, but they want to have every ounce of possible habitat as they determine is critical habitat.”
California Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa says the law has hindered new infrastructure and doing things like controlled burns, aimed at preventing larger fires and ultimately helping habitats.
“Instead, like in forestry, we end up with million-acre fires, 500,000-acre fires year after year. And air quality from that– let’s talk about that,” LaMalfa said.
LaMalfa supports a bill in Congress to amend the Endangered Species Act. It aims to streamline permitting, give more power to states and take away power from groups that sue over the law.