Articles

Author: Brandon Middleton When the Endangered Species Act was first enacted in 1973, it would have been hard to imagine that this law would eventually find disfavor among significant portions of the American public.  After all, who could be against protection of endangered species? As we approach 2010, however, it becomes more and more eviden ...

Author: Reed Hopper On Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that "the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act but that listing the species at this time is precluded by the need to address higher priority species first."  In reality, this decision may be based more on a recogniti ...

Author: Reed Hopper In the midst of controversy and ongoing litigation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced recently that the delta smelt warrants listing as endangered rather than threatened, but the listing change would not take place anytime soon. According to the Service, "based on accumulated scientific data, the delta smelt warr ...

Author: Daniel Himebaugh In honor of Earth Day this week, I think it's appropriate to highlight the story of Bob Slobe, a Sacramento-area conservationist who became a casualty of irrational environmentalism. A few years ago, the Sacramento Business Journal reported that the presence of elderberry bushes on Slobe's property had stymied ...

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Author: Reed Hopper In 2005, Pacific Legal Foundation sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to conduct mandatory 5-year status reviews for approximately 100 California species listed as "threatened" or "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. The purpose of these reviews is to determine if a species’ st ...

Author: Brian T. Hodges Why are the feds trying to convince Washington’s cities and counties to adopt new development regulations that could limit a landowner’s right to have an outhouse, trailer, or even mow his lawn?  It’s because 6 years ago, in National Wildlife Federation v. FEMA, 345 F. Supp. 2d 1151 (W. Dist. Wa ...

Author:  Reed Hopper Under the ESA, the Service is required to review the status of listed species every five years to determine if less or more protections are required.  Unfortunately, this is a task the Service rarely performs, except under duress.  Pacific Legal Foundation has had to compel these 5-year status reviews for lite ...

Author: Reed Hopper For decades, the Corps of Engineers has exempted from federal regulation so called prior converted croplands.  These are wetlands that have been put to agricultural use prior to 1986.  In 1993, the Corps issued a formal rulemaking that stated these wetlands would continue to be exempt from federal regulation unless t ...