Please read the following and then visit the website to send your letter today. The website is The American Bird Conservancy's and is set up to easily add your own comments. PROTECT ENDANGERED SPECIES FROM HARMFUL PESTICIDES ACT NOW TO PROTECT AMERICA'S MOST IMPERILED SPECIES. A SIMPLE MOUSE CLICK CAN SAVE ENDANGERED BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES, MAMMALS AND OTHER WILDLIFE. WWW.SAVEOURBIRDS.ORG The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs your written comments telling them to protect endangered species from harmful pesticides. The EPA has proposed a program seeking to protect endangered species from the damaging effects of pesticides that is potentially confusing for landowners and inadequate to meet species conservation goals. Instead of readily providing individuals with all the information they need to apply pesticides safely and comply with the Endangered Species Act, the EPA is proposing a program that places the burden on the individual to find out the risks associated with pesticide use and how pesticides can be used within the law. The agency is also proposing a highly restrictive and narrow review of the potential negative impacts pesticides may have on threatened and endangered species. Please send your comments by Monday, March 10, 2003 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency that registers toxic pesticides. These hazardous chemicals can kill birds and other wildlife To ensure that a pesticide will not impact endangered species and to help safeguard these rarest of animals, the EPA must currently consult with expert biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service. Now EPA wants to change the law so that they can exempt themselves from this procedure. They want to remove some of the checks and balances crucial to a fair and unbiased government. They formulated this proposal after lengthy consultations with representatives from the pesticide industry, but with no input from the conservation community. Now you can change that. Visit www.saveourbirds.org and click to send an automatic email to the EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service, and other key regulators expressing your opposition to this and any other proposal that will weaken the Endangered Species Act. THE DEADLINE FOR YOUR COMMENTS IS MONDAY, MARCH 10. PLEASE ACT NOW TO KEEP THE "PROTECTION" IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY TELL THE EPA: * It has a legal duty to ensure that threatened and endangered species are adequately conserved and protected against harmful pesticides * To eliminate confusion for landowners and other citizens any restrictions on pesticide use must be mandatory and appear on the pesticide product label, not in pamphlets or on a website. Labels must include the name of the species to be conserved, what restrictions apply and where they apply. * EPA must consider the full range of negative impacts that a pesticide could have on endangered species conservation including the direct killing of individuals of a listed species, harm to habitat or harm to other non-listed species that endangered species depend on for food. The Environmental Protection Agency has a responsibility to help lead the nation in it's stewardship of America's endangered fish, plant and wildlife resources. To meet this responsibility the EPA must make a programmatic commitment to conserving species under the Endangered Species Act that includes mandatory restrictions on pesticide use and clear instructions to landowners that enable them to comply with the law.The current proposal of the EPA to accomplish this has two serious shortcomings that must be overcome in order for the agency to contribute effectively to the nation's endangered species conservation efforts. The agency's proposal places the burden of obtaining information on appropriate pesticide use on the pesticide user, relying on obscure pamphlets and a website to communicate information. Also, The proposal lacks a requirement to consult with agencies expert in the scientific management of fish and wildlife, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, to determine the impacts of pesticides on listed species. To address these shortcomings the final agency program should require that pesticide labels prominently display any restrictions necessary to conserve species and all the information necessary for pesticide users to comply with the ESA . The final program should also require full consultation with the FWS and NMFS to determine the effects of pesticides on endangered species. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]