Environmental Laws Run Amuck

I have a friend who's a successful developer.  He has recently received approval to proceed with construction of a new Lowe's home improvement store. One of the last requirements before final approval defies logic. The building site contained two elderberry bushes about five feet high. While the elderberry bush is not endangered, the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle is listed as threatened, and has been since 1980. Not only was there no evidence of beetles near these two bushes, but there was no evidence of the beetle in or around the scores of elderberry bushes on a nearby hillside.

It didn't make any difference. Removing the bushes improperly would have resulted in prosecution and a massive fine.

My friend's company had to hire a biologist who confirmed the identification of the elderberry bushes, confirmed that they constituted sufficient habitat for the beetles, and also confirmed that there not only were no beetles, but no evidence of beetles anywhere nearby.

He then had to hire a professional and certified tree removal service who unearthed the bushes, moved them to a location selected by the biologist, and replanted them.

The cost for the biologist and the replanting?  $44,000!

Now some of you will react by saying "oh, he's a rich developer; he'll just absorb the cost".  And you would be wrong.  Because--just like any business--increased costs must be passed along or--after "absorbing" costs piled on top of costs--the business would go belly up.  And that means that Lowe's will end up paying for this bureaucratic debacle, which means that, ultimately, anyone who shops at the new Lowe's will end up paying for it.

This is but a small indication of the gross overreach of the environmentalists in our country.  Saving polar bears or bald eagles or grizzly bears is one thing, but who really cares about the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle?  You and I have no idea how much money we pay every year for goods and services whose prices are inflated by the confiscatory and dictatorial environmental laws in effect in our country.

By the way, it should be pointed out that the elderberry beetle is not considered endangered, but only threatened.  It should also be pointed out that this species was proposed for delisting altogether by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2006.