You're right when you say the Government isn't taking everyone's land now, but they could if they wanted to and they're using our tax money to slowly strangle the life out of our property rights.
This bullshit was sold to the public to protect furry and feathered creatures from extinction. Then hundreds of abstract species of animals and plants were added. Now, in my area, if you have any one of 8 different types of soil on your property it can be declared a "wetlands (which is literally any property anywhere). This is pure insanity.
Our "compassionate" politians give these sicko eviral orgs millions of our tax dollars to wage war on us. They ruined a developer in my area just to settle a score, using MY money to continually sue him for one frivolous issue after the next. Finally a judge who was wise to these freaks ways ordered them to post a 2 million dollar bond if they wanted to go after him again. Unfortunately it was too late and the guy declared bankruptcy, only to sell out to another developer (Bonita Bay) who continued with the project.
I realize that most of what you do around here is about propping up Governor Bush but this government/enviro partnership is dangerous and destructive. The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund are rancid political fronts and we're their enemy. They are not to be made friends with, they're to be stomped out of existence. They shouldn't be receiving millions of our money so that State and Federal executives can appear compassionate.
BTW, the "we need to spend gazillions funding envirals because it's good for tourism" is a huge horseflop, propaganda myth, created in the offices of political advisors designed for public consumption. None of what we're doing now is doing a damn thing for the environment or the tourism industry.