Alabama Attorney General asks Trump to walk back Endangered Species habitat rule (al.com)
Posted on January 20, 2017 at 10:48 AM
Dennis Pillion
dpillion@al.com
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has co-authored a letter with 13 other state attorneys general asking the incoming Donald Trump administration to repeal rules that lay out what can be designated as critical habitat for a species that is listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The two new rules state that critical habitat could include areas not currently occupied by the species "if they are determined to be essential for the conservation of the species."
Designating an area as critical habitat for an endangered species does not create a preserve, prevent private landowners from access to their own lands or put that land off-limits to development. It does require federal agencies, or entities requiring a permit from the federal government, to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about how their actions might affect the endangered species within that critical habitat.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has said the new rules are "minor edits" to existing regulations, and are intended to "provide a clearer, more consistent and predictable process for designating critical habitat."
Strange said the changes "unlawfully and vastly expand the authority" of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, and joined 17 other states last November to file a lawsuit challenging the new rules.
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more: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/01/ag_strange_asks_trump_team_to.html
