The Leaky Ark: The Failure of Endangered Species Regulation on Private Land

Abstract

The Endangered Species Act has been a source conflict and controversy ever since its enactment in 1973. A persistent source of controversy has been the Act’s treatment of private land. While the law imposes significant costs on private landowners, there is little evidence the ESA has done much to conserve endangered and threatened species on private lands, and increasing evidence the Act may discourage private land conservation. The regulatory structure of the Act also appears to place pressure on the collection of species-related information and decisions whether to list species. If the ESA is to succeed at conserving and recovering endangered and threatened species, substantial reforms are necessary. Such reforms should include a greater reliance upon non-regulatory and non-punitive conservation measures, compensation for landowners burdened by habitat controls, greater insulation of listing decisions from political and economic pressure, and greater funding for species conservation efforts.

Keywords: Endangered Species Act (ESA), Wildlife Conservation, Habitat Conservation, Endangered Species, Species Conservation, Environmental Law

JEL Classification: K32