Endangered Species Law & Policy

On January 17, 2014, President Obama signed into law the $1.1 trillion dollar Omnibus Spending Bill, thereby funding the federal government through October 1.  Included in the Bill was a provision directing the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate an exemption that exempted the scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), the dama gazelle (Gazella dama), and the addax antelope (Addax nasomaculatus) from the Endangered Species Act.  The rider was introduced by Representative John Carter (R-Tex).  As we recently reported, proponents of the rider believe that exempting the species will incentivize ranchers to maintain their populations in order to profit from hunting revenue.  Since the species were re-listed as endangered in 2012, their populations have fallen significantly.