Rep. Hastings calls for ESA to be "more efficient and effective"

May 21, 2012 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

On Friday, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) published this Endangered Species Act op-ed in the Washington Times, stating that “it’s time to take a fresh, honest look at the law and consider whether there are ways it could be improved to do a better job of protecting and recovering species.”  Hastings lists five objectives to be achieved through ESA reform and notes that the House Natural Resource Committee (where he sits as chair) has held several hearings to discuss ways to improve the law.  I was fortunate enough to participate in the Committee’s December 2011 hearing, titled “The Endangered Species Act: How Litigation is Costing Jobs and Impeding True Recovery Efforts.”