Today marks the 48th Earth Day, a worldwide event meant to encourage the sound stewardship of our planet. A prominent statutory descendant of the original Earth Day ethos is the Endangered Species Act, passed in 1973 to provide a means to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered species depend. Unfortunately, the good intentions of that statute — much like those of Earth Day itself — have been perverted to make it, in too many cases, a threat to individual liberty and property rights. The Endangered Species Act requires the "listing" of species determined to be "endangered" or "threatened" with extinction, as well as the designation of "critical habitat" for such species.  The Act's regulatory burdens can produce significant economic cost.  For instance, the Fish and Wildlife Service (the principal federal agency charged with administering the law) has estimated that the economic impact for the...(Read Full Article)