Farmers and ranchers are more than willing to preserve endangered species habitat if the public also pays its fair share, says the American Farm Bureau Federation.  But farmers, ranchers and small land owners are restricted form using their property in traditional ways because of the "alleged presence" of a listed species or because someday the land may become habitat for a listed species not present on the land.

"The Endangered Species Act (ESA) affects a number of private land owners," says AFBF Vice President Carl Loop Jr.  "But through onerous land use regulations and broad, far-reaching statutory prohibitions, they are made to bear the entire cost for protecting listed species that occur on their property."

More than 78% of listed species are on privately owned land, and a third are on privately owned land exclusively.  Most of the open, private land is owned by farmers and ranchers.

The constitution prescribes "payment of just compensation" for decreased property values from ESA actions, says Loop.  "Yet, in many cases, private land owners are told to bear the entire costs of species preservation through land use restrictions and prohibitions."

A House bill reinforces the constitutional guarantees to just compensation and provides that private land owners should "at least be treated no differently than federal agencies that receive compensation when constructive use of the property they manage is adversely affected," says AFBF.

"The bill provides a fair and uncomplicated procedure that allows private land owner claims for compensation to be as easily processed.  It does not do for private land owners anything that the federal government is not already doing for itself," says Loop.