WASHINGTON -- The California rancher and congressman whose committee oversees environmental policy wants to enlist some home-state muscle in his campaign to rewrite the Endangered Species Act.
House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., said he'll seek backing for his legislative efforts from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other Western state chief executives during a meeting this weekend of the Western Governors' Association.
"I think that having the governor on board is critical for a lot of different reasons, particularly the impact that the act has had on California, and I think he also helps influence a lot of people," Pombo said in an interview.
Pombo's committee passed bills this year that would change the 30-year-old act by requiring peer review before a species can be listed as endangered and allowing critical habitat to be designated for species only when "practicable." http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-endangered-species,0,3947574.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines