Oregon Public Broadcasting

A late change to endangered species rules by the Bush Administration lasted less than seven weeks. 

President Obama ordered federal agencies Tuesday to resume doing full scientific reviews of potentially harmful projects.  Correspondent Tom Banse reports.

For years, federal agencies were required to consult outside specialists before moving ahead with logging, mining or building projects near imperiled plants and wildlife. 

The Bush Administration rule change made it optional.  The rule revision was billed as a way to streamline small developments with little or no environmental impact. 

In Seattle, Earthjustice attorney Janette Brimmer is delighted by the reversal.

Janette Brimmer: “I think the potential was there for bad decisions by agencies and the jeopardy to species was significant.”

The Northwest regional offices of the Forest Service and BLM could not identify any projects approved during the brief duration of the relaxed guidelines. 

In Brimmer’s opinion, the Obama directive signals that the new administration may separately demand more scrutiny of a controversial logging blueprint for federal forests in Western Oregon.