Policy Briefing: Critical Habitat Designations and Proposed ESA Reforms

Depending on who you ask, the Endangered Species Act can either be considered one of America’s greatest conservation successes or one of its most dismal failures. But few would dispute that the law is politically controversial, and critical habitat designations remain a particularly thorny aspect of the ESA. 

Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new rule regarding the administration of critical habitat designations for endangered species. Critical habitat designations on private land can discourage property owners from maintaining or restoring habitat for protected species. Because private lands provide essential habitat for endangered wildlife, it’s important that reforms boost the incentives for landowners to recover species while still preventing extinction.

Join Pacific Legal Foundation, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), and the Center for Growth and Opportunity (CGO) for a virtual policy briefing on critical habitat designations to learn more about the proposed ESA regulatory reforms. Experts will explain the impact of the proposed critical habitat reforms and share their insights on where the rules will succeed or need improvement.