House Passes Gosar Amendment Blocking Harmful Sonoran Desert Tortoise Listing

Statement

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the Congressman's amendment to block the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) from listing Sonoran Desert Tortoise (SDT) as an endangered or threatened species passed the House of Representatives and was successfully attached to the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2016:

"The Sonoran Desert Tortoise is part of a growing problem involving large settlements with environmental groups who sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for regulatory protection of a large number of different wildlife and plant species. These multi-district litigation settlements force the Service to make listing decisions on several hundred species, often with little or no scientific data supporting these listings and without public input in this process. This possible listing is a result of a lawsuit filed by a few special interest groups aimed at stifling development and has little to nothing to do with the tortoise.

"Allowing the Sonoran Desert Tortoise to be listed as an Endangered Species would be game over for Arizona. Tying up 15 million acres, 4.5 million acres of which are State Trust land, with new regulations and red tape would cause considerable damage to education, grazing, agriculture, energy and housing interests as well as exacerbate wildfire mitigation challenges. The House took bold action today to protect Arizona's economy and for that I am grateful."

Source