Max Baucus: “on another matter, I wish to inform the Senate that we in the Environment and Public Works Committee are working very…”

“on another matter, I wish to inform the Senate that we in the Environment and Public Works Committee are working very diligently to come up with a good solid reform of the Endangered Species Act. In this respect, I say that Senator Kempthorne, the chairman of the relevant subcommittee, is working very hard with Senator Reid, the ranking member of the relevant subcommittee, along with myself and Senator Chafee to reform the current Endangered Species Act, including many provisions, such as involving the States much more deeply than they are now, making sure there is peer review by scientific communities, and a host of other changes. But one change I would like to mention at the moment is an idea in the bill introduced by the Senator from Idaho which very simply states that conservation easements that protect habitat for endangered species should be tax deductible.”