Thank you for answering the call.
Yesterday, during the committee markup on the ESA Amendment Act of 2025, two key provisions were added to the bill that protects small landowners.
The House Natural Resources Committee heard and passed the ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (HR 1897), which is designed to modernize the Endangered Species Act. We recommended provisions that would help prevent unwarranted species from being listed, as commonly occurs today. We also advocated that they rein in the federal agencies’ expansive critical habitat designations, which directly harm landowners.
Representative Paul Gosar from Arizona offered one of the key recommendations on our list. His amendment requires congressional approval of critical habitat designations over 50,000 acres. He added provisions that enhance federalism consultation mandates, and examines the economic impact of ESA designations on local communities. It was successfully amended into the ESA bill.
Representative Pete Stauber from Minnesota offered the second amendment that ensured local governments had a meaningful seat at the table during the environmental baseline evaluation and determination assessment. His amendment specifically requires:
“The analysis is to be prepared in coordination with the States, local governments, and Tribes impacted by the determination.”
The ESA bill required the federal government to consider the economic impacts, national security implications, and impacts on the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens. With the addition of Representative Stauber’s amendment, they must prepare this analysis in coordination with local governments instead of leaving them out of the process.
This will allow counties, cities, and special districts to have meaningful involvement in this process, where they can ensure local data, science, and practices are included in the analysis.
Please thank the key Representatives who made these amendments possible: Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Pete Stauber (R-MN). Harriet Hageman (R-WY), and Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR).
Every Republican Member on the committee in attendance voted in support of the amendments and the ESA Bill, which passed out of Committee on a vote of 25-16. Two Democrats also voted in favor of the bill: Jared Golden (R-MA) and Adam Gray (R-CA).
