Appropriations bill comes loaded with extinction riders—that kills prairie chicken and sage grouse populations.
CBD ‘07/17 – The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit membership organization known for its work protecting endangered species through legal action, scientific petitions, creative media and grassroots activism. “House ‘Extinction Rider’ Seeks to Gut Imperiled Birds’ Protections: Legislation Would Harm Lesser Prairie Chickens, Sage Grouse”, Press Release, 07/17/2023; https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/congressional-extinction-rider-seeks-to-gut-imperiled-birds-protections-2023-07-17/ Accessed 07/30/2023 | RN
WASHINGTON― U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) has introduced a must-pass Interior Department appropriations bill with riders that would gut Endangered Species Act protections for the lesser prairie chicken and imperiled populations of sage grouse. The birds all teeter on the brink of extinction.
The House Interior Department appropriations bill cuts funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by $236 million below fiscal year 2023 levels. The House bill continues a long-standing rider preventing Endangered Species Act protections for the greater sage grouse and the Columbia basin distinct population segment of the greater sage-grouse. The bill also blocks the Interior secretary from using appropriated money to list the bi-state distinct population of greater sage grouse found in a small area of the Eastern Sierra of California and adjacent Nevada.
The bill also includes a rider that would block funding for protection measures for the imperiled lesser prairie chicken, already listed under the Act, that inhabits the southern plains states.
“This is an extinction rider, attempting to subvert a federal scientific review of the declining bi-state and Columbia Basin sage grouse, and strip away Endangered Species Act protections already in place to support the recovery of the critically imperiled lesser prairie chicken,” said Laura Cunningham, California director for Western Watersheds Project. “It’s an attempt at an end run around federal law and the public interest in recovering rare wildlife, using a rider buried in a budget bill that has nothing to do with endangered species protections.”
“The science is clear. These iconic, beautiful American birds are headed for extinction even without this horrible rider,” said Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If we strip away protections for these imperiled birds, they won’t have any chance of survival.”