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A message from Congressman Pombo (well, kinda)

From: Congressman Richard A. Pombo([email protected])
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 2:01 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Reply from Congressman Pombo
 

July 14, 2006

Mr. R. Legged Frog
35 Swampy Marsh Ln
Tracy, CA 95304

Dear. Mr. Frog:

Thank you for contacting me regarding some of your concerns about the Endangered Species Act. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome your input. I apologize for the long delay.  I see that you sent your email last month but you know how those internets can be. My friend, Sen. Ted Stevens, tells me that they are a series of tubes.  Thank Heavens that AT&T will fix all that hooey.

You first mentioned your general opposition to my revisions to the Endangered Species Act, suggesting that its success for hundreds of species is something more than a mere coincidence.  Yes, I know that the population of bald eagles has risen from 417 in 1963 to 9,250 in 2006 and that the number of breeding pairs of Kirtland’s warblers has risen from 210 to 1,415 pairs between 1971 and 2005.  But, just because some “scientists” say that 93% of species on the endangered species list are stabilizing and moving toward recovery: 93% doesn’t make it so.  Let me give you some of my good ol’ fashioned rancher studyin’:

That’s not accurate. Less than 6 percent of the species listed by the Fish and Wildlife Service will even qualify as recovering, as moving in the right direction. Nearly 40 percent of the species on the list, they don’t even know what their status is. It’s over 70 percent of the population that is either declining in population or they have no idea. (Modesto Bee 7/17/06)

Now, I feel no compulsion to either back that up with actual evidence, as those “scientists” did, or tell you where I found that information.  You see, as a rancher, I know how these things go.  You see, I had some terrible experiences with the kit fox back in the ‘90s.  I may have exaggerated and smudged the truth a bit, but the basic story of government interference is delivered in my pearls of wisdom that I “stretched.”

The next issue you brought up was the loss of habitat for you and your family.  While I am saddened by the loss of 819 of your 823 children, it is merely a statistical blip.  I’m sure there will be water in your creek beds in no time!  And as I’ve always said ranchers shouldn’t be overburdened with governmental regulation.  Let me show you something I said in an interview from the Modesto Bee:

I didn’t like the way [The ESA] treated private property owners. It was heavy-handed. It didn’t really matter what the facts were on the ground or what the science was. It was decisions being driven by somebody in Washington who had never even been to the area being regulated.
I felt it was wrong for them to come in and tell someone who had been farming for a hundred years that you can no longer farm it any more because it was endangered species habitat.(Modesto Bee 7/17/06)

It’s not that I really don’t feel or understand your plight; it’s just that I don’t care.

Mr. R.L. Frog, I understand that your species may not survive the upcoming winter, but if by chance it does, please feel free to contact me. Please know that you can always reach me at (202) 225-1947 or via the website at www.house.gov/pombo which includes further information about me.  Again, thank you for your input. If I can be of any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Congressman Richard W. Pombo