Landowners, loggers, tribes, developers and others have a chance to tell the federal government what they think about certain aspects of the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting suggestions about how to better streamline permits in lands that have protected species and habitats.
The goal is to 鈥渕ore effectively support conservation efforts while addressing the needs of landowners, industry and local communities,鈥� according to a .
For instance, if you鈥檙e building housing in grizzly bear habitat or setting up a wind farm where long-eared bats congregate, it triggers a permitting process that can take months or even years. The process is meant to prevent or minimize harm to designated species.
鈥淭he inefficiencies in the permitting program are a real big drain on what the agency can do,鈥� said Jonathan Wood, vice president of law and policy at the Montana-based nonprofit, the , which advocates for incentivizing landowners to recover species.
Wood gave an example: a railway that goes through Montana that allows it to kill, or 鈥渢ake,鈥� 19 grizzly bears in seven years, if it implements a to try to keep bears safe. Wood said it took a 20-year saga to get to that point and the permit isn鈥檛 permanent.
鈥淭hey got a seven-year permit, so they probably have to start working on the renewal today,鈥� Wood said.
His view is that there aren鈥檛 enough federal workers to meet the demand for permits. One solution, Wood said, would be to grant states a larger role in the process. Another would be for the agency to give out nationwide permits with specific guidelines.
鈥淪o that if you're building a house or putting in an electrical transmission line, they鈥檙e already laid out for you what you have to do and your permit has already been issued,鈥� he said.
The arduous process can even discourage conservation efforts, which you also have to get a permit for, he added.
鈥淚f you tell somebody that wants to reintroduce a species to their property or restore habitat that they have to wait and spend a bunch of money on this process that might take years, and there's no guarantee they'll get the permit at the end of it,鈥� Wood said, 鈥渢he concern is there are a lot of folks that just won't even bother.鈥�
Yet some environmentalists say the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is flexible enough, given it鈥檚 protecting wildlife that are rapidly dying off.
鈥淭he real impediments to implementing the ESA more effectively, and addressing specific substantiated concerns raised by ESA critics, appear to be inadequate resources鈥攕pecifically, the lack of funding and people needed to implement the ESA,鈥� says a from the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy institute.
Stakeholders have until July 9 to give feedback and propose solutions The agency is particularly interested in hearing about methods to streamline conservation plans and strategies to make communication better, as well as gauging the need for more funding and resources.
Wood said many presidential administrations have tried to improve the permitting process, though the Trump team is also considering limiting what land users need a permit for.
Back in April, the fish and wildlife agency proposed a rule to only protect species, not their habitats. The service received almost online for that proposal. It has yet to release a final rule.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, 糖心vlog传媒 in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .