"In my view, this project should have been started years ago."
"The ESA has become a listing tool that restricts activities and not a management tool for the recovery of species."
"When the actions of these groups and those in our government agencies create the very problems we are seeing today, I find this dishonest and unacceptable."
"The spotted owl is a great example of how the ESA wrongly destroyed an industry and people's lives."
"It seems like our Federal Government then blames humans as a primary cause versus looking at some of these naturally occurring processes in this very complex ecosystem."
"It is obvious that the population of grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem is being underestimated for political purposes."
"What we saw were people scratching to make a living and the broken dreams and promises all taken away by environmental groups and our Federal bureaucracy all in the name of an endangered fish or anima..."
"Well, thank you. And thank you for the outstanding testimony today, and for this very informed group of witnesses, and for what you have shared with us today."
"I represent the State of Montana, and we are proud of the fact that we have more recoverable coal deposits than any other State in the country."
"Our tribal nations are begging, and I tell you, they are begging right now for the freedom to develop their own natural resources."
"One size does not fit all. We know the geology of Montana and the Powder River Basin is very different than West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, and other coal mining States."