Most of the impacts on private property from the federal Endangered Species Act have occurred in the south and the west.  This story notes that the New England cottontail rabbit isn't on the ESA's list of threatened or endangered species yet, largely due to workload issues at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Typically environmental activists sue to force such species on to the list, but not apparently not in this case.  New England liberals have a much easier time supporting the draconian species laws when those laws don't have any impact on their own backyards.  If and when the rabbit jumps onto the list and land use suddenly becomes a swirl of delays and expensive planning, lawsuits and devalued land, it will be interesting to see how the Congressmen from up north view the ESA then.