Center for Biological Diversity Protecting endangered species
and wild places of western North America April 18, 2001 REPORT:
95% of Bay Area Endangered Species Listings Prompted by Citizen
Actions Bush Suspension of Citizen Oversight Could Spell
Extinction of Dozens of Species The Center for Biological
Diversity released a report today demonstrating the devastating
impact George W. Bush's proposal to eliminate citizen oversight
from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would have on imperiled
San Francisco Bay Area plants and animals. Citizen Oversight and
the Endangered Species Listing Program shows that citizen
petitions and litigation are responsible for 95% of all
Endangered Species Act listings in the Bay Area in the past
decade. Without citizen involvement, few species would be listed
and the extinction rate would be enormous. "The Bush
administration is attacking citizen participation because
citizen involvement works, and the administration's industry
backers want the ESA to fail," said Kieran Suckling,