Below are some background points for your consideration if you are looking for something. Note: we all know the ESA rider covers 3 species. For whatever reason, the sage grouse has been the face of the fight, and so we aren’t shying away.
Feel free to reach out to me (jess@westernenergyproject.org), Drew from TWS (drew_mcconville@tws.org), or Chase from TWS (chase_huntley@tws.org)
with Qs on the below.
Thanks.
Over the past 24 hours, we have seen the Department of Defense (DOD) flip-flop on its position regarding whether the sage-grouse poses a threat to the United States Military (it
is as ridiculous as it sounds). We note it’s not the first flip-flop the administration has performed this week.
The new position, expressed in an emailed statement from the Pentagon’s head of legislative affairs, was intended to repair damage done by an honest recital of the Department’s
longstanding formal position. It is a poorly-veiled political ploy by Rep. Bishop, since the statement was sent directly to reporters from the House Natural Resources’ press shop.
While political appointees in the Trump administration may agree with Rep. Bishop and special interest lobbyists that a chicken-sized bird is somehow a threat to the greatest fighting
force on planet earth, it is important to remember that in 2016 the Office
of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Readiness, Army,
Navy,
and Air
Force all released formal statements making it perfectly clear that the sage-grouse does not impact our military readiness. Today’s statement does not speak to those
formal letters. And, before it became a political hot-potato, the Department of Defense provided its views on the language, indicating that military installations are, “not experiencing
significant mission impacts related to the management of the sage-grouse” and that “legislation at this time prohibiting the listing of these species may have the unintended consequence of undermining the ongoing working relationships and initiatives that
DOD has with our federal, state and private partners as it relates to balancing wildlife conservation and sustaining our readiness capabilities”.
Additionally, Western Governors from both parties have made it clear that they do not want to see this provision included in the NDAA.
From: Combined Defense Project <cdp@groups.b-team.org> on behalf of Mary Beth Beetham <MBEETHAM@defenders.org>
Reply-To: Mary Beth Beetham <MBEETHAM@defenders.org>
Date: Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 5:22 PM
To: "Green Group Legislative Directors (B-Team)" <b-team@groups.b-team.org>, Combined Defense Project <cdp@groups.b-team.org>
Cc: Sara Chieffo <Sara_Chieffo@lcv.org>, Lara Levison <LLevison@oceana.org>, "Apter, Nora" <napter@nrdc.org>, Lydia Weiss <lydia_weiss@tws.org>, Randi Spivak <rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org>, Melinda Pierce <melinda.pierce@sierraclub.org>, Dalal Aboulhosn
<dalal.aboulhosn@sierraclub.org>, Bobby McEnaney <bmcenaney@nrdc.org>, Phillip Ellis <phillip@yamaone.com>, Julia Alschuler <Jalschuler@partnershipproject.org>, Drew McConville <drew_mcconville@tws.org>, Michael Harris <mharris@defenders.org>, "Siu, Brian"
<bsiu@nrdc.org>, Blaine Miller-McFeeley <bmcfeeley@earthjustice.org>, Geoff Brown <gbrown@pewtrusts.org>, Aaron Mintzes <amintzes@earthworksaction.org>, Marjorie Mulhall <MMULHALL@earthjustice.org>, Kate Dylewsky <kate@awionline.org>, Steve Holmer <sholmer@abcbirds.org>,
Stephanie Kurose <skurose@biologicaldiversity.org>, Alex Taurel <Alex_Taurel@lcv.org>, Arian Rubio <Arian_Rubio@lcv.org>, Jordan Giaconia <jordan.giaconia@sierraclub.org>, Jennifer Cipolletti <jcipolletti@abcbirds.org>, Katie Taylor <KTaylor@defenders.org>
Subject: [cdp] RE: NDAA - Notes
Ugh
Pentagon Flips Position in Fight Over Endangered Birds By Ari Natter | July 19, 2018 4:42PM ET
The Defense Dept has changed its mind about objecting to a Republican-backed rider in a reauthorization bill that blocks two chicken-like birds from being listed under the Endangered Species Act,
a day after a leaked position paper noted the agency opposition, according to an email from Kristina Baum, a spokeswoman for the House Natural Resources Cmte.
Baum cites emailed statement from Pete Giambastiani, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, that says DOD supports the provision in the National Defense Authorization
Act that would prevent the listing of the Greater Sage Grouse and the Lesser Prairie Chicken for 10 years
Statement comes after informal guidance by DOD gave to lawmakers that said the Pentagon objected to the provision
NOTE: Provision is in the House-passed version of the bill but not the Senate-passed version; the two bills are currently in conference between the chambers to resolve differences
NOTE: Listing Sage Grouse and Lesser Prairie Chicken could hinder mining, logging and other extractive industries in the Western U.S.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ari Natter in Washington at
anatter5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Jon Morgan at
jmorgan97@bloomberg.net
Joi Preciphs
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Mary Beth Beetham |
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Director of Legislative Affairs Defenders of Wildlife |
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1130 17th Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20036-4604 |
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Tel: (202) 772-0231 | Fax:
(202) 682-1331 |
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Follow us on Twitter
@DefendersGovRel
for legislative updates
From: Mary Beth Beetham
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2018 1:44 PM
To: Green Group Legislative Directors (B-Team) <b-team@groups.b-team.org>; Combined Defense Project <cdp@groups.b-team.org>
Cc: Sara Chieffo <Sara_Chieffo@lcv.org>; Levison, Lara <LLevison@oceana.org>; Apter, Nora <napter@nrdc.org>; Lydia Weiss <lydia_weiss@tws.org>; rspivak.biologicaldiversity <rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org>; Melinda Pierce <melinda.pierce@sierraclub.org>;
dalal.aboulhosn.sierraclub <dalal.aboulhosn@sierraclub.org>; McEnaney, Bobby <bmcenaney@nrdc.org>; Phillip Ellis <phillip@yamaone.com>; Julia Alschuler <Jalschuler@partnershipproject.org>; Drew McConville <drew_mcconville@tws.org>; Michael Harris <mharris@defenders.org>;
Siu, Brian <bsiu@nrdc.org>; Blaine Miller-McFeeley <bmcfeeley@earthjustice.org>; Geoffrey Brown <gbrown@pewtrusts.org>; Aaron Mintzes <amintzes@earthworksaction.org>; Marjorie Mulhall <MMULHALL@earthjustice.org>; Kate Dylewsky <kate@awionline.org>; Steve Holmer
<sholmer@abcbirds.org>; Stephanie Kurose <skurose@biologicaldiversity.org>; Alex Taurel <Alex_Taurel@lcv.org>; Arian Rubio <Arian_Rubio@lcv.org>; Jordan Giaconia <jordan.giaconia@sierraclub.org>; Jennifer Cipolletti <jcipolletti@abcbirds.org>; Katie Taylor
<KTaylor@defenders.org>
Subject: RE: NDAA - Notes
Notes – thanks to Jackie!!
Will play by ear to see if we need another call.
7/19
Intel
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Yesterday was the big four meeting (inhofe, reed, smith, thornberry) to resolve issues that hadn’t been resolved at staff level
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Not out of the woods with the sage grouse rider
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The MMPA rider may still be possible, may be a push for compromise language
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Phone banking is still going to Reed and Smith at 60 calls a day
Takeaways
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Let Drew at TWS know if you have knowledge of what Senators haven’t already gone to Reed and Schumer on the environmental riders
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Reach out to any Dem or moderate Republican offices you have good relationships with and ask them to weigh in on these riders
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Amplify the article with the DOD informal recommendation to the Hill against the sage grouse rider – that went around on CDP notes from this AM
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Activate any grasstops that could be influential with any of the big four
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Mary Beth Beetham |
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Director of Legislative Affairs Defenders of Wildlife |
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1130 17th Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20036-4604 |
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Tel: (202) 772-0231 | Fax:
(202) 682-1331 |
|
|
|
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Follow us on Twitter
@DefendersGovRel
for legislative updates
From: Mary Beth Beetham
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2018 9:52 AM
To: 'Green Group Legislative Directors (B-Team)' <b-team@groups.b-team.org>; 'Combined Defense Project' <cdp@groups.b-team.org>
Cc: 'Sara Chieffo' <Sara_Chieffo@lcv.org>; 'Levison, Lara' <LLevison@oceana.org>; 'Apter, Nora' <napter@nrdc.org>; 'Lydia Weiss' <lydia_weiss@tws.org>;
'rspivak.biologicaldiversity' <rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org>; 'Melinda Pierce' <melinda.pierce@sierraclub.org>; 'dalal.aboulhosn.sierraclub' <dalal.aboulhosn@sierraclub.org>;
'McEnaney, Bobby' <bmcenaney@nrdc.org>; 'Phillip Ellis' <phillip@yamaone.com>; 'Julia Alschuler' <Jalschuler@partnershipproject.org>;
'Drew McConville' <drew_mcconville@tws.org>; Michael Harris <mharris@defenders.org>; 'Siu, Brian' <bsiu@nrdc.org>; 'Blaine Miller-McFeeley'
<bmcfeeley@earthjustice.org>; 'Geoffrey Brown' <gbrown@pewtrusts.org>; 'Aaron Mintzes' <amintzes@earthworksaction.org>;
'Marjorie Mulhall' <MMULHALL@earthjustice.org>; 'Kate Dylewsky' <kate@awionline.org>; 'Steve Holmer' <sholmer@abcbirds.org>; 'Stephanie
Kurose' <skurose@biologicaldiversity.org>; 'Alex Taurel' <Alex_Taurel@lcv.org>; 'Arian Rubio' <Arian_Rubio@lcv.org>; 'Jordan
Giaconia' <jordan.giaconia@sierraclub.org>; 'Jennifer Cipolletti' <jcipolletti@abcbirds.org>; Katie Taylor <KTaylor@defenders.org>
Subject: NDAA - Reminder Call Today at 1
Reminder, let’s do a quick call today at 1 PM, 1-800-356-8278, code 729363
We are getting down to the wire so let’s just talk about any last minute activities needed. If you can’t get on call but have good intel, advocacy needed to share
please email.
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Mary Beth Beetham |
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Director of Legislative Affairs Defenders of Wildlife |
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1130 17th Street N.W. Washington D.C. 20036-4604 |
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Tel: (202) 772-0231 | Fax:
(202) 682-1331 |
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Follow us on Twitter
@DefendersGovRel
for legislative updates
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