The Endangered Species Act Turns 30

Abstract

Many analysts suggest that the Endangered Species Act's restrictions on property rights discourage conservation by encouraging landowners to "shoot, shovel and shut up" if they discover an endangered specie's presence on their land. To overcome that perverse incentive, the Bush administration is considering revising Habitat Conservation Plan regulations so that landowners who voluntarily adopt such plans in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service would be protected from further future regulation. Is the exchange of expanded "voluntary" conservation for regulatory certainty a good one?

Keywords: Endangered Species Act, property rights, conservation, Habitat Conservation Plan, environmental policy, Fish and Wildlife Service, conservation policy, environmental regulation

JEL Classification: Q2, K32