Western governors back Endangered Species Act, with changes

The Republican-dominated Western Governors Association endorsed the aims of the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday but asked Congress to make changes, including giving states a bigger role and clarifying recovery goals for species protected by the law. The governors said Western states benefit economically from healthy species and ecosystems but bear the burden of land-use restrictions that usually come with species protection, as well as some of the cost of recovery programs. The 22-member association approved a resolution giving qualified backing for the act during a meeting in Whitefish, Montana. The governors include 14 Republicans, six Democrats and two independents. The vote count wasn’t released...more

 The WGA resolution is embedded below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8Yd5M8kgeNtSnJYTkI2WFkyYXM/view?usp=sharing