November 7, 2020 Trump Admin regulatory changes would end ESA landgrabs In 2011, FWS designated over 1,500 acres of land as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog. Despite this designation, the dusky gopher frog…
July 2, 2020 Stop designating “critical habitat” for endangered species where none exist The Court’s unanimous “scolding” of the USFWS was the subject of many editorials and columns, but only a few of us actually speculated, at…
September 9, 2019 Federal overreach on private property puts endangered species at greater risk The reason for the law’s mixed results is clear: It makes rare species a significant liability for landowners, rather than an asset. Consequently, landowners…
July 17, 2019 U.S. Fish & Wildlife backs off private property grab over Louisiana gopher frog “…the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana approved a consent decree last week. Per the agreement, FWS will no longer protect…
November 28, 2018 SCOTUS hands property owners victory in Endangered Species case The government conceded drastic alteration to the land would be needed in order for the gopher frog to survive, including replacing thousands of trees…
November 3, 2018 Should SCOTUS uphold “critical habitat” designation for disappearing ponds? The statute may have been written with good intentions, but it often punishes landowners in ways that have nothing to do with recovering species. The…
