73R4392 SRD-F
          By Hilderbran, et al.                                 H.C.R. No. 52
                              HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The federal Endangered Species Act, scheduled for
    1-2  reauthorization by the United States Congress, is in need of
    1-3  thorough and judicious revision to correct distortions of
    1-4  congressional intent that have arisen since the law's original
    1-5  enactment nearly 20 years ago; and
    1-6        WHEREAS, In many areas of the nation, implementation of the
    1-7  Act has put a complete stop to economic development, suppressing
    1-8  the rational policy compromises that would balance environmental
    1-9  concerns with the maintenance and promotion of community and
   1-10  national prosperity; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, Once an area is officially declared to be an
   1-12  endangered species habitat, any subsequent alteration of the
   1-13  property by the landowner must be approved by the U.S. Fish and
   1-14  Wildlife Service, resulting in delay of worthwhile projects while
   1-15  impacts on habitat are reviewed and debated; and
   1-16        WHEREAS, Ensuing legal obstacles to acceptable uses of
   1-17  private land, when multiplied throughout a locality harboring
   1-18  similar habitat, reduce property values and deplete the tax base
   1-19  that supports schools, roads, utilities, and other public
   1-20  necessities and services; and
   1-21        WHEREAS, The Endangered Species Act as interpreted by the
   1-22  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has led the agency to intervene in
   1-23  natural rivalries between species, effectively deciding by human
   1-24  fiat which shall live and which shall die; and
    2-1        WHEREAS, These and other anomalies that have occurred since
    2-2  passage of the Act warrant great scrutiny and review by congress,
    2-3  and it is the sentiment of this legislature that such effort lead
    2-4  to substantial amendment of the law in the course of its
    2-5  reauthorization; now, therefore, be it
    2-6        RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas
    2-7  hereby request the United States Congress to revise the federal
    2-8  Endangered Species Act in keeping with the concerns expressed
    2-9  herein to give stronger consideration to the significance of
   2-10  economic factors, protection of public safety, and preservation of
   2-11  basic landowner property rights; and, be it further
   2-12        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state prepare and
   2-13  forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the
   2-14  United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and
   2-15  president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all
   2-16  members of the Texas congressional delegation, with the request
   2-17  that it be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a
   2-18  memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.