Elizabeth Furse: “I am from a State that was very hard hit by flooding this past winter. As a result, I am very concerned about anything…”

“I am from a State that was very hard hit by flooding this past winter. As a result, I am very concerned about anything that might be responsible for costly damages my constituents had experienced. So I called Oregon's Governor's office. I asked him to find out whether the Endangered Species Act had in any way contributed to the flooding in Oregon. The answer was a resounding no. Let me read from a letter from the director of Oregon's Emergency Management Department, quote: As the director of the State's emergency management agency, I want to let you know that consideration of endangered species has not caused unreasonable delays in implementing flood recovery in Oregon. She went on to say: The ESA includes an emergency consultation process. Consultation by telephone usually allows emergency response to proceed with the least disruptive action. In other words, the Endangered Species Act does not cause or exacerbate flood damages in my State. The bill is not needed. But there is something worse about this bill. Not only will it not help prevent flood damages, it will cause a huge unintended consequence. That consequence is further loss of fishing jobs in our beleaguered sports and commercial salmon fishing industry.”