Editorial: Rep. Doc Hastings endangers the Endangered Species Act

by Naph on March 31, 2014

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, and he wants to overhaul the Endangered Species Act.

He uses the word “reform” to describe his intentions, but legions of his critics say he wants to gut the act that has protected more than 1,500 plants, insects, mammals, birds, reptiles and other creatures, according to published tallies.

Hastings and a dozen other kindred spirits, who formed the ESA Congressional Working Group, see the act as an excuse for lawsuits, with little success recovering species.