PrairiePundit

Rick Moran: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a landowner who challenged the government's designation of 1,500 acres of land as "critical habitat" for an endangered frog species. Edward Poitevent sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who said the land in question – in his family's possession for decades – was critical to the survival of the dusky gopher frog, even though the species had not inhabited the land since 1965. ... One small problem with Fish and Wildlife's decision: The land where the frog hadn't lived in more than 45 years had changed. The government conceded drastic alteration to the land would be needed in order for the gopher frog to survive, including replacing thousands of trees and conducting controlled burns to kill off underbrush. The government also said designating Poitevent's land as critical habitat could cost his family as much as $34 million, which doesn't include the cost to alter the landscape. Poitevent an...

NY Times: G.O.P. Pushes to Overhaul Law Meant to Protect At-Risk Species The Endangered Species Act, which for 45 years has safeguarded fragile wildlife, is being targeted by lawmakers, the White House and industry on a scale not seen in decades. Critics of the law say it impedes people’s livelihoods Now its main purpose appears to be as a tool for dilatory tactics to delay and increase the expense of fossil fuel development.  It has been used as a bad faith means to slow or stop energy production in the name of a few critters of limited value.   It is also used to slow or block land development for housing furthering driving up the cost of home building and ownership

Washington Examiner: The House GOP unveiled a legislative package on Thursday that would enact major reforms to the Endangered Species Act, eliminating "frivolous" lawsuits over species protections while streamlining the permit process for developers and energy companies. The reform package, called the "Endangered Species Act Modernization Package," included nine bills meant to reform the 1973 law to focus on "recovery" of threatened and endangered species, rather than keeping species listed indefinitely. Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the Endangered Species Act, if it were a Major League Baseball player, would have a batting average below .100. "That means the Endangered Species Act is the most inept program we have in the federal government," he explained. ... The anti-energy left has abused the act as a means of slowing and driving up the cost of fossil fuel energy production while ignoring the environmen...

NY Times: Puffy, Feathered Sticking Point of a $612 Billion House Bill The attempt to circumvent protections for the sage grouse, as well as those for the lesser prairie chicken, is part of a push by House Republicans to roll back environmental regulations. The anti energy left does not care as much about the birds as it does about its goal of imposing artificial scarcity of fossil fuels.  It eagerly kills jobs and and tries to otherwise halt oil and gas production in an effort to make its less efficient alternative energy sources look more competitive.  Never assume they are acting in good faith.

Washington Times: A successful Republican move to stop in its tracks the Obama administration ’s bid to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act may be a sign of things to come in the long-running battle between environmentalists and economic developers across the West. A GOP policy “rider” tucked into the massive $1.1 trillion spending bill debated by Congress last week cuts off any money for the administration to move on the grouse issue, and with Republicans set to take full control of the House and the Senate next month, that’s unlikely to be the last such move. After years of watching federal bureaucrats, environmentalists and judges decide Western land-use and endangered species policy, Republican and Western lawmakers are drawing a line in the sand over the wide-ranging, chicken-size bird, which threatens to upend economic development projects across the rural West. ... Congress needs to revamp the Endangered Feces Act which has become a sword for the anti ener...

Fuel Fix: On Wednesday, the Obama administration declared that the Gunnison Sage-Grouse, a showy, chicken-sized bird that lives in Colorado and southeast Utah, was a “threatened”species, giving it greater protection against encroachment by oil and gas drilling into its habitat. Colorado officials, like Gov. John Hickenlooper, expressed disappointment in the ruling, saying that the Interior Department discounted the efforts by volunteers and state workers to protect the bird. Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, noted that the listing threatened continued oil and gas development in the region. ... This is another example of how the anti energy left uses environmental regulations to try to keep fossil fuels in the ground.  The law needs to be revised to make this impossible.  It is anti Darwinism at its worst.

Washington Times: Pelosi’s home city exempted from water restrictions imposed on rural farmers A lawsuit would require cities to share the pain of the rural areas when the Endangered Feces Act is used.  Since I now live in the country, I am all for this.  I think liberals in the city impose their rules out of a misplaced sense of fragility of the environment,

Sean Higgins: For most people, an hourly wage of $125 would be an awfully good deal, especially in this economy. But President Obama and environmental groups are warning that it is not nearly enough for one group: lawyers engaged in Endangered Species Act litigation. They would prefer that these attorneys continue to get the $300 to $450 an hour they are typically paid now. Who is paying these fees? In many cases, it is the taxpayers. That's because most ESA litigation is by private nonprofit groups against the federal government. By law, the government pays "reasonable" attorneys' fees if the claims hold up in court. In other words, the government literally pays people to sue it. The costs add up, too. The Interior Department paid out more than $21 million in attorneys' fees to outside groups engaged in ESA cases between 2001 and 2010, according to a 2012 Government Accountability Office study. ... This is a racket.  Many of these suits are settled by the g...

AP/Fuel Fix: The federal government is declaring more than 400,000 acres in Colorado and Utah off-limits to energy exploration to protect a little-known bird. The Gunnison sage grouse is related to the better-known greater sage grouse. The federal government is considering listing both birds as endangered species. That could prohibit development and agriculture in huge chunks of the West. ... This is absurd.  If the bird can't adapt to its surroundings why should the rest of the world have to coddle it?  I think the anti energy left is just using this act as an excuse not to develop energy.

James Simpson: This week, the Bureau of Land Management has been attempting to confiscate the cattle of Cliven Bundy , the last rancher in Nevada's Clark County. On Wednesday, BLM agents confronted the Bundy family and supporters, using attack dogs, tasers and stun guns. Bundy's son was tased and his daughter thrown to the ground. Three others were injured. Bundy supporters eventually drove the BLM off, but not before they had taken some cattle. The BLM claims the cattle are "tresspassing" on land designated for the endangered desert tortoise. This designation is a red flag that something else is going on. Desert tortoises have co-existed with cattle for over 100 years and the cattle offer no threat. Sure enough, as Dana Loesch reports today in a great piece of investigative journalism, Senator Harry Reid, known as "Cleanface" by the Nevada mob, and named by Judicial Watch as one of Washington's " Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians ," has ...

Ron Arnold: Scott Pruitt is Oklahoma 's attorney general and he's fed up with Big Green's outrageously destructive sue-and-settle attacks using endangered species as a weapon to obliterate America's burgeoning oil and gas production. Pruitt was so fed up that on March 17 he and a coalition of energy groups filed a pioneering lawsuit – The State of Oklahoma et al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior – for collusion in violating federal law. “Sue and settle” is the polite way to say that federal agency greenies invite old friends in Big Green groups to sue the agency so they can jointly select a species in, for example, oil and gas country, and go to court to “force” it to be listed as “endangered” or “threatened” so its range can be declared untouchable “critical habitat,” which stops production there. In time of war that would be called sabotage. In time of Obama it’s called business as usual. I asked Pruitt by email what it was in particular about sue-and-settle tac...

Fuel Fix: The Obama administration said Thursday it is placing a grassland grouse known as the lesser prairie chicken on a list of threatened species, a move that could affect oil and gas drilling, wind farms and other activities in five central and southwestern states. The decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service is a step below “endangered” status and allows for more flexibility in how protections for the bird will be carried out under the Endangered Species Act. Dan Ashe, the agency’s director, said he knows the decision will be unpopular with governors in the five affected states — Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico — but said the agency was following the best science available. “The lesser prairie-chicken is in dire straits,” Ashe said in an interview. “The bird is in decline and has been in decline for more than a decade.” The prairie chicken, a type of grouse known for its colorful neck plume and stout build, has lost more than 80 percent of its traditional hab...

IBD: Oklahoma's attorney general has filed what could become a landmark lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, arguing the so-called "sue and settle" procedure for listing animals and plants on the endangered and threatened list violates the federal Endangered Species Act. Scott Pruitt filed the complaint late Monday on behalf of the state of Oklahoma and the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance (DEPA), a national network of oil and gas companies. The attorney general charges that "by entering into private settlements with special interest litigants, (the Fish and Wildlife Service) has attempted to circumvent the legislative and regulatory process and make fundamental changes to its (Endangered Species Act)-imposed obligations." But this is more than just another green lawsuit. If Oklahoma and DEPA lose their suit, it could have a devastating impact on the U.S. energy boom, halting exploration and drilling on huge tracts of energy-rich land. In thei...

Opinion Journal: Almost half the land west of the Mississippi belongs to the federal government, including 48% of California, 62% of Idaho and 81% of Nevada. No surprise that the Obama Administration wants to control more. But the result could be to suppress the country's booming oil and gas development. In partnership with green activists, the Department of Interior may attempt one of the largest federal land grabs in modern times, using a familiar vehicle—the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A record 757 new species could be added to the protected list by 2018. The two species with the greatest impact on private development are range birds—the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken, both about the size of a barnyard chicken. The economic stakes are high because of the birds' vast habitat. Interior is expected to decide sometime this month whether to list the lesser prairie chicken, which inhabits five western prairie states, as "threatened" under the Enda...

Ron Arnold: 'Obamacrats' threaten America's energy boom with Endangered Species Act The act needs to be repealed as an anti Darwin, anti science vehicle for obstructing development of US resources in favor of critters of dubious value.

Washington Times: N.M. students take refuge in bus stop ‘kid cages’ as gray wolf population soars For some reason a dangerous predator remains on the Endangered Feces Act while kids are put at risk just trying to catch a school bus.  The Act should be abolished, if this is a result.

Stephen Moore: Last week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and an environmental advocacy group agreed to a legal settlement that will place nine species—including the Panama City crayfish, moccasinshell mussel and boreal toad—on the fast track for placement on the endangered species list. It is only the latest of many such listings. The Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned Fish and Wildlife to designate some 250 species as endangered since 2008. Many of CBD's petitions—and lawsuits—are still in the pipeline. About 97% of the species that are designated as endangered never move off the list. Next March, Fish and Wildlife will make a determination about whether to add the lesser prairie chicken, found in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas to the list. Harold Hamm, president of Continental Resources, says that the habitat for the prairie chicken overlaps "some of the most promising land for oil and gas leases in the country." Many Westerners suspect that thi...

Austin American Statesman: Though they have a contract in hand, city officials are hesitant to buy land for a fire station because the federal government has proposed an endangered species listing for a salamander that calls the site home. And to some neighborhood residents, that’s good news. In emails obtained by the American-Statesman through an open-records request, Round Rock officialsback away from purchasing the tract of land near the Tonkawa Springs neighborhood, which city studies show could be difficult and costly to develop, and even more so if the federal government determines the Jollyville Plateau salamander is endangered. “With the recent news regarding the potential listing of the salamander … I am recommending we NOT follow through with the purchase of the tract for a fire station,” City Manager Steve Norwood told the City Council in an email sent Aug. 22, the day after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing four salamander species. “It’s unfortunate, but...

San Antonio Express-News: It's the eight-legged discovery of the millennium! An endangered species of spider not seen in more than three decades unexpectedly appeared in Northwest San Antonio two weeks ago. Biologists and science buffs, rejoice. There's just one downside if you're an area commuter: The spider, no bigger than a dime, showed up in the middle of a $15.1 million highway underpass project on Texas 151 at Loop 1604. And in this particular case of nature vs. man-made road, the arachnid wins. The highway project is on hold indefinitely. A biologist discovered the eyeless spider, called the Braken Bat Cave meshweaver, after rain exposed a 6-feet-deep natural hole in the highway's median. She's with the firm Zara Environmental, a consultant for the Texas Department of Transportation on the project. Construction, under way since April, was halted late last week after a taxonomist confirmed the creature indeed was the endangered meshweaver, named for the typ...

Austin American Statesman: Williamson County residents and officials grilled U.S. Fish and Wildlife representatives Wednesday over a proposed listing of four Central Texas salamanders as endangered species during a public hearing that drew 450 people. The audience offered pointed questions: Is this the best use of taxpayer money? How can you tell the difference between the species? How many times has the service listed species in error? Do you even live in the area? "I told you the response you could expect, and I think you're seeing the response from this community," U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, told Fish and Wildlife officials. The two sides each cite studies to make their case for or against the listing of the Austin blind, Salado, Georgetown and Jollyville Plateau salamanders. The federal government argues that degraded water quality and disturbed spring sites threaten the salamanders. Williamson County officials, who fear a listing would hamper development,...