Washington, D.C.— Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) today released the following statement on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's final designation of critical habitats for two Arkansas mussels:
"I am pleased that the Fish and Wildlife Service reduced the scope of their proposed Critical Habitat listings for these two species. But I am disappointed they still failed to consider the full cost the listings of these species has on Arkansans. Instead, they assert the cost of this critical habitat designation will only be $290,000 per year to farmers and land owners across 12 states - any Arkansan knows how far off that number is. Earlier this year, the Senate passed my amendment to the budget resolution that would fix this issue. Rest assured, I will continue to push the administration to consider the complete cost of these endangered species listings and the impact they have on our state."
In 2012, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service listed the Neosho mucket as an endangered species and the rabbitsfoot mussel as a threatened species. Today, they designated 7 areas as critical habitats for the Neosho mucket mussel and 31 areas for the rabbitsfoot mussel.
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