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A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKIN COUNTY COLORADO,
IN SUPPORT OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
Resolution #0/'1- ;a:c
Recitals
I. The United States; including Pitkin County, has a long and proud tradition of respect for
the Earth's wildlife and natural resources.
2. Our public lands system and our environmental laws are among the strongest in the
world, representing a unique American legacy of conservation and sound land stewardship.
3. We have a responsibility to our children and future generations to be good stewards of
our environment and to leave behind a legacy of protecting endangered species and the special
places they caU home.
4. The strength and vitality of the human environment is inextricably linked with the health
of aU species and the places they live.
5. Species extinction and habitat destruction are a serious threat to our own welfare. For
example, native wildlife and plants are the source of most of our commonly-prescribed
medicines and cutting-edge medicines for hard-to-cure diseases, and the extinction of these
species could mean the loss oflife-saving drugs. Fifty-six percent of the top 150 most popular
prescribed drugs are linked to discoveries of natural compounds in the wild, with an annual
economic value of $80 billion. These include the Pacific yew, the bark of which provides a
treatment for lung, ovarian, and breast cancer, the rosy periwinkle, which provides a cure for
Hodgkin's disease and certain forms ofleukemia, and digitalis, derived from the purple foxglove
plant, which extends the lifespan of an estimated three miUion Americans who suffer from heart
disease.
6. Since it was signed into law by President Nixon in 1973, the Endangered Species Act has
been a strong, science-based conservation statute serving as the nation's safety net for
endangered wildlife and plants, designed to protect endangered species and their habitat.
7. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data, endangered species protected by the
End\illgered Species Act are dramaticaUy less likely to become extinct. The Endangered Species
Act has a success rate of99.3% at preventing extinction of these species.
8. The Endangered Species Act has effectively prevented the extinction of endangered
species throughout Colorado and the United States, including the black-footed ferret, the
greenback cutthroat trout, and the Colorado butterfly plant.
Resolution No?J/,'I.2006, page 2 of 2
9. The Endangered Species Act has put hundreds of endangered wildlife and plants on the
path to recovery, including the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, and the Canada lynx.
10. The Endangered Species Act encourages and is compatible with programs that provide
economic incentives to landowners engaged in effective endangered species and habitat
conservation.
II. Programs that provide such economic incentives to landowners enjoy widespread support
among diverse constituencies, and if implemented effectively can benefit both landowners and
endangered species.
THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO URGES Colorado's Congressional delegation to support
a strong Endangered Species Act so it may continue to protect our native wildlife and plants and
the habitat on which they depend and to support enhancing programs providing economic
incentives to landowners engaged in effective endangered species and habitat conservation.
INTRODUCED, READ, AND ADOPTED ON THE 22nd DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2006.
ATTEST:
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OF PITKlN COUNTY, COLORADO
By:
Mi
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