By:  Bivins                                           S.C.R. No. 51
 1-1                        SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-2           WHEREAS, Under rules adopted on November 23, 1998, the Fish
 1-3     and Wildlife Service of the United States Department of the
 1-4     Interior listed the Arkansas River shiner (Notropis girardi), a
 1-5     minnow whose present range includes portions of the Canadian River
 1-6     in Texas, as a threatened species pursuant to the federal
 1-7     Endangered Species Act; and
 1-8           WHEREAS, Subsequent rules adopted on April 4, 2001, which
 1-9     follow from policy reconsiderations stipulated in an agreed
1-10     settlement order, designate 1,148 miles of river segments in the
1-11     Arkansas River basin--including over 100 miles of the Canadian
1-12     River in Oldham, Potter, and Hemphill counties in Texas--as
1-13     critical habitat for the  species; and
1-14           WHEREAS, This state's Parks and Wildlife Department
1-15     recommended against listing the Arkansas River shiner as an
1-16     endangered or even threatened species because such a listing was
1-17     scientifically unsound and unnecessary; and
1-18           WHEREAS, The Fish and Wildlife Service refused to enter a
1-19     Memorandum of Understanding concerning recovery of the Arkansas
1-20     River shiner with the states of Texas and Oklahoma, yet in its
1-21     recent rule adoption notice concedes that ideally a recovery plan
1-22     should precede critical habitat designation; and
1-23           WHEREAS, Its designation, which becomes effective on May 4,
1-24     2001, includes a portion of the Canadian River that makes up the
 2-1     headwaters of Lake Meredith, and as such could potentially
 2-2     interfere with the reservoir's water supply and flood control
 2-3     functions; and
 2-4           WHEREAS, Critical habitat designation enhances the likelihood
 2-5     that the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, might be used
 2-6     as a vehicle for direct regulation of Texas groundwater and surface
 2-7     water use by the federal government or the federal courts; and
 2-8           WHEREAS, Notwithstanding its recent final rule adoption, the
 2-9     Fish and Wildlife Service states that it continues to solicit
2-10     additional public comments on the issue toward possible new
2-11     approaches to recovery planning; now, therefore, be it
2-12           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-13     hereby urge the United States Department of the Interior to
2-14     reconsider the necessity of designating the Arkansas River shiner
2-15     as a threatened species and the necessity of designating critical
2-16     habitat in Texas for the Arkansas River shiner; and, be it further
2-17           RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
2-18     urge the Parks and Wildlife Department and the Office of the
2-19     Attorney General to take all reasonable steps to ensure that
2-20     portions of the Canadian River in Texas be designated as critical
2-21     habitat only to the extent that such designation is absolutely
2-22     necessary, scientifically justifiable, and economically prudent;
2-23     and, be it further
2-24           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
2-25     copies of this resolution to the secretary of the interior, to the
2-26     president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
 3-1     representatives and the president of the senate of the United
 3-2     States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to
 3-3     the congress with the request that this resolution be officially
 3-4     entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress
 3-5     of the United States of America; and, be it further
 3-6           RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward an
 3-7     official copy of this resolution to the executive director of the
 3-8     Parks and Wildlife Department and to the attorney general of Texas.