Posted on 10/06/2014 12:34:06 PM PDT by Rusty0604
“When the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (DSL) was being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA),” Chris Bryan, agency spokesman for the Texas Comptroller, told me, “significant parts of the Texas economy were placed at risk.”
On September 30, District of Columbia District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled against the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Defenders of Wildlife. The groups brought litigation in the hopes of requiring the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reverse its 2012 decision not to list the lizard as endangered.
The 2012 decision was the first time that community engagement beat back a proposed ESA listing—a stinging defeat to a movement that has historically used lawsuits as an effective weapon.
The DSL story represents a new chapter in ESA compliance that allows conservation and productive activity to coexist. Previously, presence of an ESA-listed species would shut down activity with harsh consequences for landowners and communities.
Stories of individual losses, like the spotted owl’s, prompted the Texas State Legislature to pass a bill creating the Interagency Task Force on Economic Growth and Endangered Species to help municipalities and regional governmental bodies cope with the ESA.
Additionally, the Comptroller’s Office provided funds to survey the lizard’s habitat—which revealed 28 more Texas DSL populations, in addition to the three known populations.
The 2011 surveys were possible because of a special provision the legislature passed in 2011 that allowed DSL population locations to remain confidential. Without the force of state law, landowners resist cooperating in conservation efforts out of fear their property would be rendered unusable.
By being proactive, Texas was able to enact voluntary conservation programs that brought about the 2012 FWS decision not to list the lizard.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
The Federal government doing EVERYTHING it can to try and collapse the Texas oil economy.
Yes, they truly hate us that much.
F U B O!
Ping.
If they taste good just make a season on them.
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