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to create a balance in the management of this Nation's natural re- 

 sources. 



I honestly think that hits it right on the head. The question is 

 always, like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder, and what con- 

 stitutes balance, as we hear from people here, a lot of people feel 

 their own particular thing on either side of the spectrum may be 

 the balance. 



Here is the question I really want to address: I think Norm Dicks 

 gave an outstanding statement this morning when he was talking 

 about some of the ways that he looked at what was going to hap- 



f)en in the Northwest. And then as we got into the conversation fol- 

 owing that, he made a point about the idea that he felt that we 

 should not list one by one on the Endangered Species Act, as has 

 been the pattern, but that we should go to a more ecosystem ap- 

 proach, where each State should participate in what they think is 

 right. 



I pointed out to him that would cause a change in the particular 

 act as it now is, if we were going to go to that and, in fact, a rather 

 dramatic change in it. What would be your comment on that? 



Mr. Edwards. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Hansen, I am cer- 

 tainly not an expert on the Endangered Species Act, but I guess I 

 would agree with the statement that we need to take a broader ap- 

 proach. I do think there are some provisions under the act, under 

 habitat conservation plans that does allow us to take a look at this 

 from £in ecosystem approach. And I think in the State of California, 

 for example, I think there are places where that has been imple- 

 mented. 



Other than that, I am not sure that I can really address your 

 question. 



Mr. Hansen. Does it make sense to you? Do you find yourself in 

 a position where a certain endangered species is listed and then 

 the heartache that goes along with that — I imagine from your de- 

 partment you see it more than probably the other folks do—the 

 desert tortoise in Southern California, the red squirrel in Califor- 

 nia, the squawfish in Colorado, on down the line, the spotted owl 

 up in the Northwest. 



Immediately, the media is full of things. We have lost 300,000 

 jobs, or we are going to — the price of homes are going up and all 

 that sort of thing. Doesn't it seem to you we are creating a lot of 

 problems? And maybe Norm Dicks' idea would be a better idea, to 

 maybe see how to examine it and how it affects the entire particu- 

 lar area? 



Mr. Edwards. I think at times the Endangered Species Act has 

 been compared to an Intensive Care Unit, where we bring the pa- 

 tient when he is on his dying last gasp. And I think we all know 

 that not only is that an expensive proposition, but also it is frus- 

 trating to the people involved with the patient on either side of the 

 House. 



I think the trick is, as you and Mr. Dicks have said, we need to 

 take a proactive approach. We need to get in front of these issues 

 and address them now in some kind of cooperative partnership ap- 

 proach so we don't have the patient there. 



We have heard a lot in the last couple of weeks about national 

 health care, and the idea, I think, is preventive medicine, and that 



