The Endangered Species Act Under Attack: Could Conservation Easements Help Save the ESA?

In this article the author notes that the Endangered Species Act has increasingly come under attack. The attack on the ESA has been brought about primarily due to the substantial adverse economic effects caused by enforcement of the ESA 's provision. The author seeks to alleviate the economic burden on the affected parties in order to decrease the push for ESA reform. First, the author examines Fifth Amendment taking theory and concludes that it is insufficient to rectify the problem. Second, the author examines conservation easement theory and concludes that the purchase of conservation easements by environmental organizations would be a viable system for spreading the economic burden of species protection across a greater spectrum of society