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In a year when hostile elements in the 104th Congress have
put the Endangered Species Act itself in danger of
extinction, Sierra Club members are cheering a recent
Supreme Court ruling that upholds the Act - and they're
taking to the streets to demonstrate their support for the
landmark 1972 law.
The Supreme Court this summer decided that habitat
protection is critical to the protection of species under
the Act. Their ruling in the case of Babbitt v. Sweet Home
reversed a previous appellate court decision that concluded
that the definition of "harm/take" in the law should include
only the direct and intentional killing of a species.
"If the appellate court's ruling were allowed to stand, one
could cut down the nesting tree of a bald eagle as long as
the eagle was not present in the nest, or destroy the
breeding grounds of a migratory songbird while the bird was
wintering elsewhere," said Melinda Pierce, associate
representative in the Sierra Club's Washington, D.C.,
office. "These scenarios fly in the face of the intent of
the law."
The high court's decision followed the release of a National
Academy of Science study that concluded that habitat
destruction is the most serious threat to endangered species
in the United States and that habitat conservation is
essential to preserving biological diversity.
Meanwhile, more than 400 people took to the streets for a
Sierra Club rally at the Maryland capitol building in
Annapolis to oppose efforts to gut the Endangered Species
Act. Afterward, they took their message inside at a
"citizens forum" sponsored by Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.),
a champion of the Endangered Species Act. Gilchrest
conducted the hearing because the House Endangered Species
Task Force - whose hearings were heavily stacked with anti-
ESA witnesses - refused to conduct an official meeting about
the law in Maryland.
"We filled almost every square foot of that hearing chamber
with passion for protecting wildlife habitat," said
participant Jim Dougherty, conservation chair for the New
Columbia Chapter in Washington, D.C. "Those legislators
felt the Sierra Club breathing down their necks -
literally."
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