IPAA’s Dan Naatz in the Casper Star Tribune: When used appropriately, critical habitat designation helps ensure that important areas where endangered or threatened species reside are not destroyed or adversely modified. Unfortunately, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently proposed new regulations that would dramatically expand the areas that could be designated as critical habitat. This expansion in authority has no basis in law and could threaten economic development activities and job creation across the country. Under the new rule, FWS would be able to designate areas as critical habitat that are not presently (and perhaps never will be) necessary to the survival of a species. The new rule would essentially turn the FWS into a National Zoning Commission, with the authority to set aside tracts of land for species conservation based solely on its projections about the effects that climate change may have on current habitat. Read the full piece HERE.
