Number: 1992-09
WHEREAS, the Endangered Species Act is among the nation’s strongest and foremost wildlife conservation laws and a vital tool for habitat protection and has been shown to work effectively for the last eighteen years; and
WHEREAS, the Endangered Species Act has come under intense attack by a number of well-financed special interest groups, such as the National Endangered Species Act Reform Coalition, whose sole objective is to weaken and debilitate the Act during its reauthorization; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation’s 1992 Wildlife Week theme is endangered species and reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act is among the National Wildlife Federation’s top priorities in 1992;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1992, in Portland, Oregon, urges Congress to strengthen the Endangered Species Act by seeking to amend the law to: 1. Streamline the listing process to expedite protection of species 2. Improve implementation of the Act’s requirement that critical habitat be designated for listed species; 3. Provide for greater ecosystem protection by enhancing planning for recovering listed species; 4. Ensure adequate funding for conservation activities authorized by the Act; 5. Strengthen the enforcement provisions of the Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges Congress to adequately fund federal natural resource agencies charged with protecting and enhancing the nation’s fish and wildlife resources, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, and that efforts to divert sportsmen’s dollars from the Pittman-Robertson, Dingell-Johnson and Wallop-Breaux programs be rejected.