BISMARCK – Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring issued the following statement today in response to the notice to review and revise Endangered Species Act implementing regulations by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.
The notice proposes to make regulations more consistent with the Endangered Species Act. According to the notice in the Federal Register, the agencies are undertaking the change to adhere to the single, best meaning of the Act.
“I applaud the commonsense decision to review and revise the Endangered Species Act regulations,” Goehring said. “If these new regulations are implemented, this will make the regulatory framework consistent with statute, prevent regulatory overreach, protect landowner rights and state sovereignty, allow agricultural producers to more efficiently use critical crop protection tools, and bolster energy and other development while maintaining protection of at-risk species.”