
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 25, 1995                   TAG: 9505250093
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT LAUDED

An expert scientific panel has concluded that the much-criticized Endangered Species Act is a ``critically important'' and successfully used tool for preserving biological diversity and has recommended that the 1973 law's protections for wildlife habitat be strengthened.

Requested by congressional leaders almost four years ago, the report and its findings cut across the grain of current thinking on Capitol Hill, where Republican leaders in both the House and Senate are pushing for what could be a dramatic weakening of the landmark but controversial environmental legislation.

``In general our committee finds that there has been a good match between science'' and the act, wrote University of California geneticist Michael T. Clegg in introducing the report prepared for the National Research Council. ``To sustain a viable future for our descendants, we must find ways to preserve both species and ecosystems.''

Supporters of the act hailed the scientific report as a bulwark against upcoming congressional efforts to weaken the statute in a debate set to begin next month ``This shows the act needs some fine-tuning to make it stronger, and not a meat ax,'' said Jim Jontz, a former Democratic member of the House who now heads the Endangered Species Coalition, an umbrella group of conservation organizations.

Whether the scientists' report will have much impact on the congressional debate is questionable, however. Earlier this month, the House turned a deaf ear to the findings of another National Research Council report that strongly endorsed tough protections for wetlands because of their vital role in providing wildlife habitat.

Perhaps the most far-reaching proposal by the 16-member committee that conducted the study is to permit federal officials to designate what it called ``survival habitat'' for species immediately upon their designation as threatened or endangered, as a protection against further losses. Under the law now, the protection of habitat thought critical to the survival of an endangered species frequently comes years after the decision to list the animal or plant.

``Habitat protection is a prerequisite for conservation of biological Diversity,'' concludes the report.

by CNB