Homebuilder charged with Endangered Species Act violations

KCAL ^

[chance33_98]

Homebuilder charged with Endangered Species Act violations

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) A developer who wanted to build 3,200 homes in Pittsburg has been charged with violating the Endangered Species Act.

West Coast Homebuilders Inc. of Concord was charged in U.S. District Court in Oakland Friday with two counts of violating the act after authorities said a department of Fish and Game warden found a dead California red-legged frog on the site last year.

Prosecutors say Albert Seeno Jr. owner of the company ordered his workers to fill in ponds that were home to the endangered frog.

The frog is believed to be the one Mark Twain made famous in his short story ``The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.'' It was put on the endangered species list in 1996, and has disappeared from nearly three-quarters of its natural range.

The company could be placed on five years' probation and fined if convicted of violating the act. The company is expected to plead July 19.

Seeno's attorney Bill Goodman declined to comment on the case Saturday.

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[crz]

If the ponds were filled in, then that must mean the frog is no longer endangered.

[Sacajaweau]

A frog, a fine and a farce.

These environmentalists are nuts. I'm not sure what the life span of that frog was, but a bigger critter could have just as well eaten him the next week or he could have choked on a lily pad.

I believe that these folks and the "endangered species act" are infringing on the rights of property owners to develop their property according to "reasonable rules".

Somehow, America has to come to their senses. Our forefathers filled in the swamps and got rid of a lot of the diseases associated with them.They cleared a portion of the woods and turned them into farms.

It was a labor of love and sweat and tears.

These environmentalists wish to create the landscape of the past which excludes man.

That's a step backward not forward.

While I'm at it, these uncontrollable burning forests are a rude awakening to the environmentalists who go around screaming...don't touch our forests.

Let's get back to reality.

To you insane environmentalists....get a job.

Sac

[glockmeister40]

I wonder how many endangered species got barbequed in the huge wildfires in colorado and arizona?

Due to the endangered species act, timber companies were not allowed to log and this created HUGE amounts of fuel in the national forests. Nature has restored the balance, at a dreadful cost

The worst thing we can do is listen to the enviro green weenie assholes.

[JCG]

The frog is believed to be the one Mark Twain made famous in his short story ``The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.''

Yeah, sure. First, endangered and now an historical treasure. What's next, sainthood?

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[leadpenny]

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with you. I am saying I find it fascinating how you can be so sure of yourself.

Hypothetical: You own land in Pittsburg, California. You have a house and a pond on your land. There is no law against you filling in the pond to build a tennis court or a barn or whatever. You find out, with absolute certainty, that your pond is the home to the last surviving colony of California Red-Legged Frogs. By filling in your pond you know, beyond a doubt, the frogs will be gone forever.

Question: Would you fill in the pond anyway?

[RicocheT]

Question: Would you fill in the pond anyway?

YES

[error99]

Question: Would you fill in the pond anyway?
Answer: Yes, and not lose any sleep over it.
Perspective, man, perspective. It is, after all, just a frog,
and its demise does not signal the end of the world for mankind.

[Savage Beast]

"These environmentalists are nuts."

Of course they are nuts, but the real fools are the people who give serious consideration to them, their opinions, and their policies. If these environmentalists could be ignored, their ravings would be of no consequence. Unfortunately however, there are enough stupid people paying attention to them to make them dangerous.

[Hacksaw]

My supervisor lives outside of NYC. On his property, there is a small man-made pond. Well, when he expanded his house and got the permits, (you guessed it) he had to go through hoops with his local wetlands comminsion.

Before they came out to inspect it, he cut down several trees around the pond and used a backhoe to rip out the stumps. He said he wouldn't have been allowed to touch them if the commission knew they were there.

[JZoback]

Question: Would you fill in the pond anyway?

Not only would I'll fill the pond in, I'll sell my property (the frogs) to the nearest French Restaurant to help pay for my new tennis court.

They ARE FROGS.

[Tench_Coxe]

In today's environment, yes. You see, my property ( hypothetically ) happens to be along the planned route of a nature 'corridor', which can only be constructed if the private property owners sell. I won't even mention the fact that several big wigs involved in the project plan to build big lodges right in the middle of the nature park for themselves and closest friends ( Bruce Babbit and Kaibob, anyone? ).
Now, knowing that soon there will be people snooping around the property to find any little thing 'wrong' to use an excuse to lower the property value or prevent my use of the property, therefore forcing me to sell the property for pennies on the dollar, I would rent a backhoe and fill that pond immediately, making certain that the frogs are buried nice and deep.

[Dog Gone]

Wanna stop a housing development? Catch and kill a frog, throw it onto the property, and call the California Environazis.

It's cheap, it's easy, and it works every time.

[cgbg]

Gee, I wonder why California real estate is so expensive?

[Dog Gone]

California red-legged frog

[goodieD]

I'd take out as many frogs as I could, fill in the pond, and take the whole mess of em down to the lobby of PETA and dump em there.

[BillofRights]

Doesn't that evil capitalist understand that frog rights supersede property rights?

[hedgetrimmer]

PING