Part 1 - Flaws in habitat conservation plans threaten scores of species
The federal government is handing out licenses to kill endangered species.
Hundreds of exemptions to the Endangered Species Act have been issued nationwide since the mid-1990s, covering some of America's most sensitive lands.
The deals being cut are perfectly legal. Many last for decades. And they are helping push creatures to the brink of extinction, conservation biologists and other critics say.
Agencies entrusted to protect animals have allowed driving on Florida beaches where threatened sea turtles nest, the electrocution of rare birds on security fences at California prisons and the killing of protected salmon in one of southwest Washington's last undammed rivers.
These "habitat conservation plans" authorize developers, miners, loggers and others to "take" -- that is, harm, injure or kill -- creatures on the brink of extinction. Theoretically, the permit holder must do something good for the species to compensate for the bad.
Washington state is about to become the epicenter of this little-noticed trend. By the end of the year, about 11 million acres -- about one-quarter of the state -- are expected to be covered by habitat plans that focus largely on logging of private forests. Other deals in the works could expand the total to more than 15 million acres -- tops in the country.
"Washington will be setting a huge precedent not only for how things happen in Washington, but also what will happen everywhere," said Daniel Hall of the American Lands Alliance, one of the few environmental groups tracking the plans.
It's a huge investment in a flawed program.
Many of the nation's habitat plans have serious shortcomings that tip the scales in favor of development over endangered species, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer investigation has found.
Although the conservation strategy was conceived by a developer's lawyer and launched to help the private sector, state, county and city governments are increasingly signing on -- primarily to shield major public-works projects from costly lawsuits. Coming up are plans covering state-owned Puget Sound waterfront and the King County sewage-treatment system.
It's a delicate balancing act: protecting endangered species, often by setting up preserves, while allowing private landowners to make a living.
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Flaws in habitat conservation plans threaten scores of species
