Can Land Uninhabitable by an Endangered Species Nonetheless Be 'Critical Habitat' Under the Endangered Species Act?

[Draggingtree]

Can Land Uninhabitable by an Endangered Species Nonetheless Be 'Critical Habitat' Under the Endangered Species Act?

The Supreme Court is asked to review an expansive interpretation of the Fish & Wildlife Service's authority to designate critical habitat for listed species.

Jonathan H. Adler|Jan. 3, 2018 9:22 pm

The dusky gopher frog is an endangered species -- and the subject of substantial litigation. Once found throughout several southeastern states, the frog is only extant in parts of Mississippi, all located within a single county. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service would like to see the frog restored to more of its historic range, including parts of Louisiana, but that's easier said than done. The dusky gopher frog is apparently quite particular about the sorts of lands it will inhabit, and there's not much land within its historic range that contains all of the relevant features -- and therein lies a problem.    

[Draggingtree]

Confiscating Private Land For ... Frogs

PAUL DRIESSEN

8:08 PM ET

Among the abuses that led the Colonies to declare independence from Great Britain was quartering armed troops in civilian homes without the owners' consent. Imagine how they would have responded to this far more egregious abuse.

In 2001, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the "Mississippi gopher frog" as endangered. In 2010, the FWS proposed designating acreage in Mississippi as "critical habitat" for the frog, which had long lived there.

By 2012, the FWS had expanded the critical habitat to 4,933 acres in Mississippi – plus 1,544 acres in Louisiana — and changed the amphibian's name to "dusky gopher frog," to cover the new two-state status.        https://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/confiscating-private-land-for-frogs/