IT’S NOT ABOUT SAVING SPECIES – IT’S ABOUT SPENDING TAXPAYER MONEY AND MAKING SOME GROUPS WEALTHY
By KAREN BUDD FALEN, BUDD-FALEN LAW OFFICES, LLC, : MAY 26, 2010
Reprinted with permission from the author, originally published at Western Legacy Alliance
See original PDF
Below please find
some disappointing data regarding Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) and its
cost to the American public. ESA process and litigation are NOT about saving
species, it is about spending American taxpayer money. In an economic time
where American jobs are scarce, private property rights are being taken and
the federal deficit is trillions of dollars, certainly the federal
government can find a better way to spend American taxpayer dollars than
lining the pockets of radical environmental groups and their “pro bono”
(i.e. allegedly free) attorneys and spending money on a program that by the
federal government’s data is a complete failure.
The ESA was signed into law in 1978 with the best of intentions. However,
over the years it has become the battle cry to eliminate private property
rights and property use, shut down agriculture and other industries and fund
radical environmental groups and their attorneys. There is not a single
state within the United States that does not have listed, threatened or
endangered species. It would not be so bad if the original intent of the ESA
was followed and species were listed, then recovered, then removed from the
list—but that is not what is happening.
As of May 17, 2010, there are a total of 1,374 species listed as threatened
or endangered. This list includes everything, even bugs, worms, plants,
snakes, spiders, bogs, moss, mice, rats and other species. According to a
2009 report by Greenwire citing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
average cost of listing a single species is $85,000 and the average cost of
designating critical habitat is $515,000 per species. Thus, the approximate
cost to the American taxpayer of listing the 1,374 species is $116,790,000
and the approximate cost of designating critical habitat for those species
is $707,610,000.
If it weren’t bad enough that America’s taxpayers are spending millions
simply listing species, that is not the end of the story. The ESA sets very
specific time frames for species listing and critical habitat designation;
time frames which the federal government cannot seem to meet. Species are
listed by a petition process, which means that anyone can send a letter to
the federal government asking that a species, either plant or animal, be put
on the ESA list. The federal government has 90 days to respond to that
petition, no matter how frivolous. If the federal government fails to
respond in 90 days, the petitioner–in the vast majority of cases, radical
environmental groups–can file litigation against the federal government and
get its attorneys fees paid. The simple act of filing litigation does not
mean the species will get listed or that it is warranted to be protected;
this litigation is only over whether the federal government failed to
respond to the petition in 90 days. Between 2000 and 2009, in just 12 states
and the District of Columbia, 14 environmental groups filed 180 federal
court complaints to get species listed under the ESA and were paid
$11,743,287 in attorneys fees and costs. Again, there are listed ESA species
in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories.
Consider how much in attorneys fees have been paid if all litigation in all
states is considered.
And it doesn’t end there; the federal agencies have placed 341 more species
on the candidate species list, meaning that they are under consideration for
listing on the ESA threatened or endangered species list. That is 341
species times the average cost of listing of $85,000 per species and
$515,000 for each critical habitat designation for a total of
$204,600,000–all from America’s pocketbooks.
And it still doesn’t end there; certain radical environmental groups have
petitioned for additional listings of even more species and critical habitat
designations. In the last 8 months, the Center for Biological Diversity, the
WildEarth Guardians and the Western Watersheds Project have threatened the
federal government with litigation if the government fails to list 238 more
species. If the federal government does not respond to those listing
petitions or Notices of Intent to Sue, federal court complaints will be
filed and according to recent history, attorneys fees will be paid.
And with all this money–$116,790,000 for species listing; $707,610,000 for
critical habitat designation; $11,743,287 in attorneys fees paid to some
radical environmental groups because the federal government simply missed
deadlines–only 47 species have been taken off the ESA list and of that 47
only 21 because they were recovered. That is a 1.5% success rate! The other
26 species were taken off the list because they either went extinct (9
species) or should never have been put on the list in the first place (17
species). There is something wrong with this picture.
And while you are thinking about the ESA and its cost versus failure rate,
consider the additional individual costs to American taxpayers and small
businesses. The California red and yellow-legged frogs have cost the
taxpayers $445,924 just in litigation attorneys fees. Part of the reason
that California farmers in the Central Valley have no water for their crops
is because of Natural Resources Defense Council litigation over the delta
smelt, a 2 to 3 inch long minnow. Wolf litigation has cost American
taxpayers $436,762 in attorney fees, all paid to environmental groups who
sue the federal government. Litigation over the desert tortoise, (a total of
11 cases) – a species that only spends 5% of its life above ground – has
cost the American taxpayers $702,519 just in payment of attorneys fees. In
fact, in the last 10 years, the federal government has spent more than $93
million in taxpayer money on the desert tortoise.
And that is not counting the costs to American business, even “green
business.” In California, Brightsource Energy will have to spend $20 million
dollars to relocate 20 tortoises plus create a permanent tortoise trust fund
so it can build its solar power plant. That is 1 million dollars plus per
tortoise. Other businesses that have been impacted or stopped by the desert
tortoise include a wind farm that would supply electricity to Las Vegas.
Private landowners who wish to develop their own property are required to
pay “mitigation fees” of between $370 and $550 per acre to develop private
lands designated as desert tortoise critical habitat. Once the money is
paid, it does not matter how many desert tortoises are killed. Hyundai car
company had to buy 3000 acres of additional land for $5 million so that it
could use its own private property for a car safety test track. In addition
to the $5 million, the company also agreed to pay $1.5 million into an
endowment fund for the desert tortoise. The National Military Training
Center at Ft. Irwin has also been negatively impacted, agreeing to pay $6.9
million to relocate desert tortoises on the base so it can conduct its
military training. None of this counts the over 30 family ranches that were
eliminated because they used to graze their cattle on desert tortoise
critical habitat.
It is clear that the American taxpayers have a tremendous problem. This
wouldn’t be so hard to take if the ESA was successful or if the radical
environmental groups that are getting taxpayer money to litigate over the
ESA were spending money on species or their habitats. However, there is no
evidence that one single dime of the money the federal government pays to
environmental groups to litigate over ESA species is spent on habitat or
species research or mitigation projects—the money is just spent to get more
taxpayer money and put more small businesses out of business or stop private
landowners from using their properties. Even those businesses that supply
“green jobs” and “green technology” suffer. This is a maddening state of
affairs for America - somewhere the madness must stop!
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