Environmental groups are celebrating this Earth Day after the U.S. House of Representatives pulled a bill amending the Endangered Species Act.
The House was set to vote Wednesday on the ESA Amendments Act (HR 1897) sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark.
A group of officials, business owners and environmental advocates from Washington’s 3rd Congressional District wrote to Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, in March and asked her to vote “no” on the bill. They warned that it could harm the region’s outdoor recreation economy, fishing industry and businesses that depend on access to clean water.
“The Endangered Species Act is a highly successful law that has prevented nearly all listed species from extinction. This includes numerous runs of salmon and steelhead still present in the Pacific Northwest and Southwest Washington that support our fishing industry, the bald eagle that draws tourists to our region, and maintaining pristine upper watersheds supporting clean water our breweries and residents depend on,” the group said.
On Monday, Perez said she still was considering her position on the bill.
“This bill is far from perfect, but we are waiting to see if the positives outweigh the negatives,” Perez said Monday in an emailed statement.