By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
I must take issue with many of Taylor Jones' statements in her letter "Endangered Species Act is worth the fight" (Friday). Ms. Jones' claim that "The law simply requires common sense measures to minimize harm to imperiled species" is simply untrue. Considering most endangered species dwell on privately owned land, any law that makes such occurrences a liability rather than an asset to the landowner makes no sense at all, common or otherwise. Without the Endangered Species Act (ESA), most landowners would brag about having something rare on their property and protect it without the need for any government action. The ESA punishes a landowner for harboring an endangered species and consequently destroys this attitude.
"I wouldn't call it an infestation," Ms. Jones said. "The prairie dogs were there first, and inhabited the Great Plains long before any city was built up. That's their ancestral home."
Taylor Jones, an endangered-species advocate for WildEarth Guardians, said the group supports nonlethal mitigation efforts, but worries about the potential for overkill if local authorities are placed in charge of managing the critters.
