Are U.S. Landowners Inhospitable to Rare Species to Avoid Regulation?
Federal protection of endangered or threatened plants and animals is supposed to help their conservation, not hurt it. However, new research into one threatened animal suggests that the approach can sometimes backfire. Researchers following the fate of the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse, found in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, have revealed that owners of more than a quarter of the land studied admitted to actively degrading habitat following the species’ listing as threatened in 1998.
