The Endangered Species Act Out of Control

Fox News ^ | August 31, 2007 | John Lott and Sonya Jones

[republicpictures]

Is a salmon born in a hatchery a different species from the same salmon born in the wild?

It is hard to believe, but recent Federal court rulings are claiming that otherwise genetically identical fish are separate species, forcing an appeal being announced recently to the 9th Circuit Court.

...

These decisions will dramatically affect a lot of people living in the Pacific Northwest. Protecting the salmon will make water much more difficult to obtain, and, without irrigation permits, many farmers and ranchers will have to stop watering their crops and livestock. Large areas of private property will have to be set aside for any species listed as threatened or endangered. The commercial and recreational fishing industries in the Northwest, which generate more than $2 billion annually, will also be affected.

Promoting the survival of salmon is a worthy goal, but does it really matter if a fish’s ancestors are from a hatchery or are naturally spawned? As it is, many so-called "wild" or naturally spawned salmon were all but gone and brought back through the use of hatcheries. Given that hatcheries have been around for over a hundred years, it's likely that all naturally spawned salmon have at least some hatchery-spawned ancestors....

John R. Lott, Jr. is the author of "Freedomnomics" and a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland. Sonya D. Jones, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, is representing the appellants in Judge Coughenour’s decision.

[Ben Ficklin]

In the last Congress there was broad support for endangered species reform, tho the support hinged on how much reform.

Pombo went with "all or nothing" and got nothing.

[Khepera]

Thats ok your tax payments will go way up once you pay off the mortgage.