Crapo: Bald Eagle Recovery A BlueprintFor ESAPartnerships

Washington, DC - Endangered species recovery requires cooperation with private landowners and must be the cornerstone of current efforts and future renewal of the Endangered Species Act. That was the message carried by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo today on Capitol Hill, announcing a new national campaign to recover at least 15 species now on the endangered species list and celebrating the recovery of Americaâ??s symbol, the bald eagle.Crapo, chairman of the Senate subcommittee with jurisdiction over the Endangered Species Act (ESA), hosted the leadership of the group Environmental Defense on the Senate grounds to announce the â??Back from the Brinkâ?? campaign, a five-year plan to restore a number of species. The wildlife group cites work with private landowners, along with members of Congress, agency groups, and others, as critical to plans to delist species including the bald eagle, the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the Kamer blue butterfly. â??This program exemplifies the progressive, results-oriented, and respectful approach to conservation that will lead to a better species conservation policy in America,â?? Crapo said. â??The ESA is 30 years old and we have been fighting about it almost since its passage; but today we have successes such as the bald eagle from which to learn how to produce results that replace conflict.â??Crapo repeated a message he delivered to the National Governors Association in February that success on the ground in species conservation would guide his efforts to renew the ESA in Congress. Crapo pointed to several Idaho examples of such partnerships, including the contributions of the Peregrine Fund to recovery of the peregrine falcon, and actions by Idahoans to conserve salmon and steelhead, ground squirrels, and a species of peppergrass. Even the gray wolf, he observed, has a state-approved conservation plan in Idaho. â??The lesson is symbolized by the eagle with us today. Recovery is possible if we make an effort to work together,â?? Crapo concluded. â??Litigation and one-sided demands ultimately lead to gridlock and gridlock does not recover species.â?? Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) and Fred Krupp and Michael Bean of Environmental Defense joined Crapo and a bald eagle to announce the start of the â??Back from the Brinkâ?? campaign. # # #