H.R. 576 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 576 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 6, 2013 Mr. Stockman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To save endangered species. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Save Endangered Species Act of 2013. 2. Findings and purpose (a) Congress finds: (1) Captive breeding programs are an essential part of re-establishing endangered species populations. (2) While the scimitar-horned oryx is extinct, and the addax and the dama gazelle are endangered, in their native Africa, thanks to the hunting industry their populations are flourishing and thriving in Texas. (3) U.S. populations of the scimitar-horned oryx, addax and the dama gazelle are not taken from the wild, but are bred from animals imported in the 1970s. (4) A biologist and executive director of the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, tells The Houston Chronicle, In this instance, Texas ranchers have done an astonishing job of rebuilding three species of African antelope, one of which is extinct in the wild. When it comes to saving a species, government on its own cannot save those species. The private sector has to get involved. (5) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wisely granted an exemption from certain provisions of the Endangered Species Act relating to the taking of animals endangered overseas, but flourishing in the United States. (6) An anti-hunting activist group opposed to hunting filed suit against the Interior Department seeking to outlaw the hunting of the scimitar-horned oryx, addax and the dama gazelle, and in 2012 the Interior Department complied, declaring their large and flourishing Texas populations were endangered under the Endangered Species Act. (7) Banning the hunting of an unendangered species in Texas does absolutely nothing to protect overseas endangered populations in Africa. (8) Banning the hunting of an unendangered species in the United States actually places overseas endangered populations in danger of extinction by removing any incentive to breed and maintain them. (9) Restoring the domestic hunting of these species is essential to maintaining healthy captive breeding programs if we are to restore or save them in their native Africa. 3. Restore the previous rule (a) Before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on September 2, 2005 (70 Fed. Reg. 52310 et seq.), without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. (b) Such reissuance (including this section) shall not be subject to judicial review.