Press Releases

Congressmen Rick Crawford (AR-1), Tim Griffin (AR-2), Steve Womack (AR-3), and Tom Cotton (AR-4) today sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe expressing concern over the proposed endangered species classification of the Northern Long-Eared (NLE) bat.

“We are troubled by this conclusion, as such a listing would eliminate forest harvesting in Arkansas during the months of April through November, devastating what is a vital industry in our state,” the letter says.  “Further, this does not address the impact an endangered listing would have on farming, energy development, and manufacturing within the state.”

The letter goes on to ask for a six-month extension of the comment period to further consider the scientific data and comments from affected stakeholders. 

The full text of the letter can be found here.

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