Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Minutes August 18 2005

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SECWCD August 18, 2005 11 RECORD OF PROCEEDING Mr. Lee Miller reported District staff received a request for inclusion into the District from Madison Orchard LLC. District staff and legal counsel will work on an inclusion process for staff and Board review of such petitions. Mr. Lee Miller reported according to press reports, U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R- Idaho) and Blanche Lincoln (D- Arkansas) have partnered to write legislation that will address several areas of the Endangered Species Act. Senators Crapo and Lincoln are co- chairing a working group in Congress that is coordinating its efforts with the appropriate committees of jurisdiction in the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. In February, Senator Crapo joined Senator Lincoln Chafee (R -Rhode Island), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Water; Representative Richard Pombo (R- California), who chairs the House Resources Committee, and Representative Greg Walden (R- Oregon) to announce a bicameral effort directed at the same goal. The five issues under consideration (as described by the Senators' press release) are: 1. Incentives —Draft language will provide positive incentives including direct payments to landowners for their commitments to conservation. 2. Commitments —The commitment to recovery must be as serious as commitments to protection. We have worked hard over the first 30 years of the Act to protect species. We must build on that with more progress toward recovery. State roles —State government can play a stronger role. Involving states involves more wildlife professionals and access to existing relationships with landowners, both of which enlarge the team of people promoting recovery. 4. Critical Habitat — Habitat is critical to wildlife, but the Critical Habitat provisions of the Act need reform. Our goal should be to protect and improve habitat in the most effective way possible. 5. Science —Just as habitat is fundamental to wildlife, science is fundamental to how we care for wildlife. Science must be credible, reliable, and subject to independent review to provide a more open process for contentious decision making. At present, Senators Crapo and Lincoln have not specified a time frame for introduction of the measure, which is still being drafted. They intend to introduce the bill in the 109th Congress. In addition, Representative Salazar informed the District that House Resource Committee Chairman Richard Pombo is expected to introduce ESA reform legislation shortly after the