( Wilson Pellegrino Research Professor ...)Legal ruling may put endangered species in danger

Wilson, Pellegrino Research Professor in Entomology, Harvard University; Gus Speth, dean of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Stuart Pimm, the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Biology at Duke University; Michael Soulé, professor emeritus of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Reed Noss, president of the North American Section of the Society for Conservation Biology; and Phil Hedrick, Ullman Professor of Biology at Arizona State University.

Leading environmental philosophers who signed the letter include Holmes Rolston, III, University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Ethics at Colorado State University; J. Baird Callicott, Regents' Distinguished Professor of Environmental Ethics at the University of North Texas; and Bryan Norton, professor of environmental ethics and policy at Georgia Institute of Technology.

"The Solicitor's ruling presents ecological, philosophical and logical problems," explained Nelson, "The ESA is an act that codifies an ethic which asserts that species possess intrinsic value. This recent ruling attempts to undo a moral commitment made by the American people in 1973."

"Congressional intent about the Act is clear," said Vucetich, who recently co-authored a scholarly article with Nelson on the meaning of the words "endangered" and "recovery" in the Endangered Species Act. Their paper was published in the October 5, 2006 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Conservation Biology. "The Act is intended to allow species to be restored throughout a large portion of their former or historic range. We object to the Solicitor's ruling because it waters down the Act."

Vucetich, Nelson, and the other experts who signed the letter are urging Secretary Kempthorne to "consult with the nation's leading environmental scholars before defining terms such as endangered species."

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Source:Michigan Technological University


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