Congress must not limit the role of the Endangered Species Act

At first glance, it would seem that the greater sage-grouse, a funny, chicken-like Western bird, would be of little interest to fast-growing, entrepreneurial companies. However, their fates are more intertwined than you would think. The recently announced decision to keep the bird off the Endangered Species List is the result of years of hard work and collaboration among stakeholders across 11 western states. Westerners’ proactive approach to conservation resulted in the protection of up to 67 million acres of public and private lands, enhancing outdoor recreational opportunities that the “best and brightest” employees of the West and our innovative economy value so highly. 

As members of the Conservation for Economic Growth Coalition (CEGC), a community of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and C-Level executives of fast-growing companies, we have seen first-hand that the protection of our parks and public lands provides increased recreational opportunities that allow companies to recruit and retain the very brightest employees.  Access to inspiring public lands is not only an important amenity these companies can offer their employees, it also is consistent with their corporate culture. Many companies use parks and open spaces for team-building and other employee activities, or to encourage a culture of “working hard and playing hard.” For others, environmental ethics and stewardship are at the heart of their company values. 

{mosads}For these reasons, the Coalition applauded the recent protection of new national monuments in New Mexico, Colorado, California, and Nevada over the past two years. More recently, we were extremely impressed by the successful collaboration among the Department of the Interior, western Governors, local communities and many other stakeholders – including hunters, fisherman, ranchers, business owners, environmentalists, and energy companies – that resulted in individually tailored landscape-level plans that avoided the need to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).   

The plans will increase land protections across the American West where many of our entrepreneurial companies are located, providing certainty that valued recreational resources will be accessible for years to come. As Wyoming Governor Matt Mead (R) said, “We can continue to create jobs and share our natural resources with the rest of the nation while the Greater Sage-Grouse thrives.” 

The existence of the ESA provided a focus for the years of collaboration that produced this landmark decision, as well as similar, but smaller-scale, collaborations that fueled conservation of habitat for the Sonoran Desert cottontail and the New England tortoise, both of which also avoided an endangered species listing this year.  

Without the provisions of the ESA serving as an option of last resort, it is not clear that all of the parties who came together to frame this agreement would have joined in the collaboration at all, let alone been so singularly focused on achieving a positive outcome for all involved.

As species in other regions of the country approach endangerment, it would be foolhardy to enact any of the bills now pending in Congress that would constrain or limit the role of the ESA. The law holds unprecedented potential to prompt similar collaborations and mutually beneficial agreements among stakeholders in the future.  If the successful sage grouse collaboration is any indication, when it comes to the ESA only one old adage should apply: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

Pfund and Baruch are the co-chairs of the Conservation for Economic Growth Coalition, an advocacy group made up of founders of fast-growing entrepreneurial companies and venture capitalists.