Rat-related restrictions
on landowners scaled back,
thanks to PLF lawsuit
By the Pacific Legal Foundation
SACRAMENTO, CA, June, 2007: Thousands of acres of private property in California's San Bernardino and Riverside Counties stand to be freed up from excessive regulation, under a proposed narrowing of "critical habitat" for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. Acting in response to a lawsuit by Pacific Legal Foundation, this week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to slash the land set aside for San Bernardino "K-rat" habitat by more than 80 percent - from more than 33,000 acres, to under 7,000 acres.
"The government's proposed change shows that Pacific Legal Foundation was correct when we argued, in our litigation, that bureaucrats were wildly overstating the amount of land needed for the rat's survival," said PLF attorney Damien Schiff. "Such carelessly overbroad habitat designations impose significant and needless costs on property owners. Thanks to PLF's successful litigation, this greatly pared-down designation will ease burdens on landowners and foster a more cooperative atmosphere between regulators and the regulated public."
In March, 2005, Pacific Legal Foundation filed suit in federal court on behalf of home builder and cattle rancher organizations, contending that the federal government's designation of "critical habitat" for 27 species in California - including the San Bernardino kangaroo rat - violated the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws, because the determinations included areas that weren't needed for the rat's survival, and because they failed to take economic impacts into account. In March, 2006, the court accepted a settlement agreement, whereby the United States Fish and Wildlife Service promised to reanalyze the designations of critical habitat for five species: the Monterey spineflower, La Graciosa thistle, Bay checkerspot butterfly, Quino checkerspot butterfly, and the San Bernardino kangaroo rat. This week's announcement regarding the rat is one result of that settlement agreement.
"Anyone interested in the affordable housing crisis should be cheered by this decision," said PLF's Schiff. "Roping off land without justification, and prohibiting homebuilding and other productive activity, undermines the economy, the environment, and our quality of life. PLF is pleased that we have helped check such unjustified overregulation in the Inland Empire."
A complete description of the government's proposed revision of critical habitat for the San Bernardino kangaroo rat can be downloaded here.
About Pacific Legal Foundation
Founded in 1973, Pacific
Legal Foundation is a Sacramento-based public interest legal
organization dedicated to property rights protection, limited
government and individual rights. More information on PLF is available here.
Contact: Damien M. Schiff
Attorney
Pacific Legal Foundation
Phone: 916-419-7111
Comment on this article | Printer friendly version