50,000 Petitions Delivered to Interior Secretary Salazar Requesting He Rescind Bush Regulations
That Weaken the Endangered Species Act

April 9, 2009

The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary of the Interior
U.S. Department of the Interior
18 49 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C.

BY HAND DELIVERY

Dear Mr. Secretary:

On behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity (Center) and our 200,000 members and activists, I submit our current list of signatures to repeal the Bush Administration’s unlawful 11th hour rules pertaining to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation process and the Section 4(d) regulation on the polar bear.

The attached CD contains approximately 50,000 names of individuals, who have spoken out against these highly ill-advised rules. Signatures from our petition drive continue to come in by thousands daily. Many other conservation, scientific and interested groups are also hearing from the American people that these two ESA rules must be repealed pursuant to the authority granted to you by the FY 09 Omnibus Appropriations Act. In addition, we note you have independent authority to repeal these rules.

I should note, further, that we have reached out to you and your staff through several avenues, but have to date received no response of any kind to our overtures. The Center wrote the petition that led to the listing of the polar bear, and has been a leader in implementation of ESA Section 7 throughout our twenty year history. With all due respect, we believe we could assist you in charting a new and better course than that established by your predecessor.

Please place this letter and the contents of this CD in the administrative record for both matters. We thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

William J. Snape, III
Senior Counsel
Center for Biological Diversity
202-536-9351
[email protected]

Contents of the petition.