Posted: 02/28/2005
Position Statement - The House Resources Committee Conference on the Endangered Species Act
Re: The House Resources Committee Conference on the Endangered Species Act.
“It’s time to move beyond stale discussions concerning whether or not the science used to justify listing or delisting a species is ‘peer reviewed’ or sound to address the more fundamental structural problems with the act: the disincentives that the act creates to protect at-risk species from harm and to promote species survival and flourishing.
The current act creates incentives to destroy species and their habitat. For example, over 75 percent of the listed species depend on private land for all or part of their habitat requirements. Yet if property owners actually provide a suitable habitat for them, they become subject to severe regulation if not outright confiscation.
To improve this situation, when the government imposes land use restrictions on private property to preserve species, the property owner should be compensated – just as he or she would be if their land were taken any other public purpose.
Congress could go farther and pay ‘bounties’ to property owners who manage their lands in ways that encourage endangered species to take up residence. Funds could come from the revenues from energy production on public lands.”
H. Sterling Burnett—Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis.