Schedule Announced for Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Protection

Washington, D.C. Conservation and fishing groups today announced an agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service to re-establish critical habitat for salmon and steelhead previously struck down by the Bush administration. The habitat protection, covering land in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California, was lost in April 2002 when the administration capitulated to an industry lawsuit challenging the designations on economic grounds.

"We're pleased to finally have a schedule for protecting important salmon and steelhead habitat," said David Hogan, Rivers Program Coordinator for the Center for Biological Diversity. "But the Bush administration was far too eager to strip the salmon of earlier habitat protection. We should never have come to this point."

In the previous lawsuit, brought by the National Association of Home Builders and other development interests, the administration failed to defend its designations for salmon and steelhead and agreed to set aside the critical habitat while it conducted additional economic analysis. The salmon and steelhead at issue have now been without critical habitat protection for well over a year.

Critical habitat plays a vital role in the workings of the Endangered Species Act. Indeed, recent evidence indicates that species with designated habitat are not only less likely to be suffering a decline but are twice as likely to be recovering. Still, in the face of lawsuits by industry groups, the administration has repeatedly moved to affirmatively vacate critical habitat designations.

"The administration's willingness to remove protections for salmon is part of a larger disturbing pattern," said Michael Mayer of Earthjustice. "But the law requires the conservation of wild species and their habitat, and we will continue to enforce those obligations."

The refusal to defend existing critical habitat is just one example of the Bush administration's larger assault on Endangered Species Act habitat protections. It has encouraged legislative riders undermining the Act's habitat provisions, requested insufficient appropriations to support critical habitat designations, and sought lengthy delays when courts have ordered habitat protected. "This administration is determined to eliminate environmental protection every way it can," said David Bayles, Executive Director of Pacific Rivers Council.

The agreement reached with the conservation and fishing groups sets a schedule for critical habitat re-designation, requiring a proposal by June 2004 and a final rule by January 2005. It does not mandate any specific boundaries for the habitat.

"Given events up to now, we'll be watching the process closely," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens Associations. "We don't just want it done; we want it done right."

To learn about other PRC work on the Endangered Species Act, click here.