The bill's chief backer, Senator Dirk Kempthorne (R-ID), and a bipartisan Senate team sought to use science to reconcile the desires of property owners to shrink the law's scope with those of environmentalists, who wanted to expand its reach. The bill directed the National Academy of Sciences to create a pool of referees for peer-reviewing decisions to list and delist species, and it mandated scientific benchmarks for assessing recovery. The bill also codified Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's programs to encourage landowners to conserve habitat (Science, 13 June, pp. 1636 and 1662).

"The emphasis on science was welcome," says Dee Boersma, president of the Society for Conservation Biology, although she adds that it "layered on too much process"--the reason some environmental groups opposed the bill. But Babbitt endorsed it, as did many industry groups. Nevertheless, the bill never reached a Senate vote, held up by campaign-finance reform battles.

Hill staffers say it's uncertain whether S. 1180 will be resurrected in the spring. Property-rights opposition may grow, while environmentalists are likely to back

a different bill in the House. Worse, Kempthorne's departure next spring to run for Idaho governor leaves the drive without a clear leader in the Senate. Thus the ESA may limp along on 1-year extensions indefinitely. .