The mud puddle preservation plan

 According to the Bureau of Land Management, the government already owns 52 percent of the approximately 100 million acres in California. The Forest Service owns 20 percent, BLM owns 15 percent, the National Park Service owns 8 percent, the state and local governments own 5 percent, and the military owns 4 percent.

 Designating hundreds of thousands of acres of private land as mud-puddle "critical habitat" would effectively shut down development of that land. In its Nov. 18 report, "Draft Recovery Plan for Vernal Pool Ecosystems of California and Southern Oregon," FWS stressed that it envisions the voluntary involvement of landowners.

 But it said: "Protection in perpetuity of these lands includes the amelioration or elimination of the threats in perpetuity, and application of appropriate and adaptive management to assure species survival and recovery."

 What are the threats? In a section of the report titled "Major Threats to Vernal Pool Species," FWS cites even the negative impact of "hiking and bicycling." "Recreational use also may introduce, or facilitate spread of, seeds of invasive plants that could be attached to vehicles, tires or shoes and clothing," the agency warns.

 "Habitat protection can be achieved in a number of ways, including land acquisition, purchase of conservation easements and conservation agreements," says the report. All of which mean no growth.

 The FWS report estimates the full cost of its plan at more than $2 billion.

 But that does not count the opportunity cost to American families. As the Modesto Bee pointed out in a December editorial, the median priced home in California is now $465,000. In November, the Public Policy Institute of California asked 2,502 California adults if they were concerned that the younger generation in their family would not be able to afford a home in their part of California. Fifty-two percent said they were very concerned, and 25 percent said they were somewhat concerned. Twenty-four percent said the cost of housing was forcing them to consider moving out of their region of California or out of the state altogether.

 Using "endangered" mud puddles to shut down development on large tracts of private lands in California will shut down the dream some have of owning a home.

 Rather than let federal bureaucrats or federal judges do that, President Bush and the Republican Congress should rewrite the Endangered Species Act now.