Syzdekistan

The Bush administration has given very few species protection under the Endangered Species Act. In fact, only 59 species have been listed during the seven years of the Bush administration and those listings were due to court orders (environmental groups end up suing the US Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service to list species for protection under the Act). Presidents Clinton and H.W. Bush’s administrations listed on average about 60 species per year.

In lieu of listing a species as Endangered or Threatened, the Service would add a species to a “candidate list.” This legal purgatory would prevent anyone from filing lawsuits to move the species to Endangered or Threatened list. See this Washington Post article for other ways the Bush administration blocks endangered species listing within the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Due to these bureaucratic roadblocks, environmental groups have been finding new ways to force the Federal government to do their legally required duties to protect species. One group, WildEarth Guardians recently sued for 681 western species to be listed using the USFWS’s own criteria that they are highly endangered.

NPR recently reported that the Bush administration has recently worked with Congress to increase funding for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to work on getting species off the candidate list and listed.

This is a strange turn for the Bush administration. Often, Presidents wait to do some more controversial acts such as pardons and declaring national monuments until the end of their terms. Is this an example of that? Or is it political? Many of the species on the candidate list are Hawaiian. There are large numbers of rare endemic species in Hawaii including many very rare birds, snails, plants, and insects. Could it be that Bush wants to get some credit or legacy for protecting a large number of endangered species? He might as well do it in a state that trends liberal so as not to anger his constituents. Furthermore, Hawaii is so far away from the national and political scene, any “endangered species problems” caused by listing would be borne by the far away and Democratic leaning Hawaiians.

Another example of Bush building his environmental legacy (OK, the only other example I can think of) was his designation of the vast Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument in 2006. And by vast, I mean vast in area and not just name (the pronunciation guide is here). This monument is larger than the rest of the National Parks put together and is about the size of Germany. He can rightly say he created a huge national monument. And perhaps in 2008, he can say he protected hundreds of endangered species. Of course, they are both far away and affect mainly Democrats in a small state.

On the other hand, both the proposed increase of effort towards listing of candidate species and the designation of Papah?naumoku?kea Marine National Monument both fulfill Aldo Leopold’s ethic: “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” This is very strange territory for President Bush.