Kempthorne Sees Deal On Species Act Senator Says Moratorium On New Listings Creates Quieter Atmosphere For Talks

Sen. Dirk Kempthorne said Friday he’s started negotiations to develop a bipartisan compromise on reform of the Endangered Species Act.

Kempthorne, chairman of the Senate subcommittee in charge of reviewing the act for reauthorization, earlier had offered his own version of ESA reform. But it was rejected by Democrats and conservationists who said it wouldn’t adequately protect endangered species.

Kempthorne said he still is optimistic that the act can be reformed this year.

“There are a lot of folks that do want to see something take place, including the White House,” he said during the taping of KTVB-TV’s “Viewpoint” program Friday.

Kempthorne said he met two weeks ago with Vice President Al Gore, who told him “progress would be more important than politics.”

Kempthorne said he is talking with Republican Sens. John Chafee of Rhode Island and Democrats Max Baucus of Montana and Harry Reid of Nevada.

“We are at the table now,” the Idaho Republican said.

Kempthorne said the chances of reforming the act this year improved when the Senate voted narrowly to continue a moratorium on endangered listings.

“I think the other side thought that they would win,” Kempthorne said, “and the fact that they didn’t gave a whole new atmosphere, that they now want to sit down and seriously negotiate.”

The 51-49 vote defeated an attempt by Reid to provide $4.5 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resume its listing activities.

An amendment offered by Kempthorne and Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison keeps the freeze in place through Sept. 30, the end of this federal budget year.

Supporters say the moratorium enacted a year ago is necessary to let Congress rewrite the 1973 Endangered Species Act in an atmosphere free from new listings controversies. But Reid said the moratorium is having a “devastating” effect on endangered plants and wildlife.

Kempthorne said he thinks a bipartisan compromise can include some elements of his earlier bill, such as giving states and local governments more of a role in species recovery and recognizing state jurisdiction over water rights.

“We are making serious efforts now to craft a bipartisan legislation that will bring about balance, and I really believe it is going to allow us to truly save species in a greater fashion than we have seen to date, but do it without putting people and our communities at risk.”

The act technically expired in 1993, and its reauthorization has been postponed each year since then, partly because of Clinton administration fears that reworking it would lead to gutting wildlife protections.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = From staff and wire reports Staff writer Betsy Z. Russell contributed to this report.