Gee, Congress is Returning Some of Our 5th Amendment Property Rights

House Bill Would Limit U.S. Power to Protect Species
By FELICITY BARRINGER
New York Times
Published: September 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 - The chairman of the House committee overseeing natural resources introduced a bill Monday that would make it more difficult for the federal government to set aside land it deems crucial to the health of endangered species.

The proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act also increase the obligation of government agencies to tell landowners quickly if the law limits their development options, and to compensate them.

The measure, which drew quick denunciations from groups like Environmental Defense, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council, was proposed by the House Resources Committee chairman, Representative Richard W. Pombo, Republican of California. It was immediately put on a fast track, which is expected to bring it before the full House early next week.

In a news conference Monday, Mr. Pombo said his legislation "will put the focus on recovery where it should be and will eliminate a lot of the conflicts we have had with private property owners."

The proposal was markedly different from draft legislation circulated earlier this summer, which put even greater restrictions on federal agencies that enforce the law, and which would have automatically taken the law off the books in 2015. The new measure abandons the latter goal but creates new hurdles for federal agencies - chiefly the Fish and Wildlife Service - as they take actions to protect species.

It has been one of the most unconstitutional laws on the books, the right to prevent a landowner from developing his land due to the presence of an "endangered species" and not pay him compensation for his loss. This amounts to the taking of property without just compensation in direct violation of the 5th Amendment. Our founding fathers considered property rights the most important of all rights and the source of all other rights.

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