Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Putting a price tag on where endangered species live
What is the economic cost for protecting a threatened or endangered species? For
the first time, the federal government will provide an answer at the
same time it designates the territory considered essential for the
recovery of a plant or animal on the brink of extinction. The
proposed policy shift could be significant because the designation of
critical habitat sometimes leads to prolonged fights with local
landowners and developers. Federal officials said the change would give
the public a better understanding of the potential economic impacts
upfront and may produce more exclusions of private and state land from
such a designation. Texas officials said they support the Obama
administration's plan, considering 29 species statewide are currently
under review for possible listing as threatened or endangered. Once a
plant or animal is listed, the Endangered Species Act requires the
federal government to designate lands as critical habitat if they are
"essential to the conservation of the species." "It never made sense to us to have the economic analysis done after the proposal," said Lauren Willis, a spokeswoman for Texas Comptroller Susan Combs, who leads a state task force that tracks the impacts of endangered species listings. "We want it as soon as possible." The
proposal comes as some Central Texas officials are trying to prevent
the listing of four species of salamanders, saying it would cripple
development in a three-county region. Combs' task force estimates the
listing would cost the local economy at least $6 million a year...more
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