The Endangered Species Act and Claims of Property Rights “Takings

This report discusses Endangered Species Act (ESA) that has long been one of the major flash points in the “property rights” debate. This report first outlines the ESA provisions most relevant to the act's impacts on private property, then surveys the major ESA-relevant principles of Fifth Amendment takings law, and finally discusses the court decisions adjudicating whether government measures based on the ESA effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment