Species act strengthened

HR3824, the Threatened and Endangered Species Recovery Act, provides for meaningful species recovery and strengthens scientific standards while ensuring that landowners are not unfairly burdened.

One of the most substantial improvements to the ESA in HR3824 is protection of private property rights, a critical issue since experts report as much as 90 percent of all endangered species have habitat on privately held lands.

When private property is taken for roads, schools or other public purposes, the Constitution guarantees the landowner is compensated. Discovery of an endangered species on Americans' farms and ranches can take away much of the property's value and completely prohibit its traditional agricultural use, without "just compensation." Should the cost of public policy be borne by farmers or ranchers as government seeks to protect plant and animal species?

HR3824 received support from Utah's three House members. It is private property rights friendly while focusing on the actual recovery of species. The success of the ESA has been debated for years. In its 32 years, over 1,250 species have received the protection of federal law, but only 17 have been delisted because they were successfully "recovered."

The ESA, in its current form, does more good for attorneys engaged in litigation dealing with enforcement of the law than for the plants and animals it was originally envisioned to protect.

An incentive-based partnership with farmers, ranchers and other private property owners can provide for a successful outcome in protecting America's threatened and endangered species.

Randy Parker

chief executive officer

Utah Farm Bureau Federation