Environmentalists Gear Up for Fight on Endangered Species Act

Environmentalists marked the 20th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday by calling on Congress to give the law more teeth to stem the impending extinction of 800 plants and animals.

The act has saved the bald eagle and dozens of other species, but it needs more funding and enforcement provisions, the environmentalists said.

“It has missed opportunities because of weaknesses,” said Ed Clark of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, holding a bald eagle recovering from an injury caused by a power line.

The Endangered Species Act expired last year, but Congress extended it until the House and Senate consider its reauthorization this spring.

It promises to be one of the Clinton Administration’s biggest fights, pitting environmentalists against landowners and others who say the law takes away their property rights and steals jobs.

Environmentalists urged Congress to strengthen the law by:

* Increasing funding.

* Increasing penalties for violations. Fines now seldom exceed $500 and violations are deemed misdemeanors. “One might cause the extinction of a species, literally, and only serve a year in jail,” said John Fitzgerald of Defenders of Wildlife.

* Ordering that recovery plans for species be drafted within 18 months of the identification of a problem.