THIS IS ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS. THE GOVERNMENT CAN PROTECT MICE BUT NOT AMERICAN CITIZENS AGAINST INVASION BY ILLEGAL ALIENS??????????????????????

Lawsuit Targets Government Mouse Protections That Stop Floridians from Rebuilding Hurricane-Destroyed Homes

Contact: Valerie A. Fernandez
Managing Attorney
Pacific Legal Foundation - Atlantic Center
(772) 781-7787

PERDIDO KEY, FL; December 19, 2007: Federal officials broke the law last year when they designated thousands of acres in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama as additional "critical habitat" for beach mice. So charges a lawsuit announced today by attorneys with Pacific Legal Foundation, the nation's oldest and largest public interest legal organization that battles for property rights and against abusive and overreaching environmental regulations.

Lawyers with PLF's Atlantic Center, based in Stuart, Florida, represent hurricane victims and other property owners in Perdido Key, Florida, who have been prevented by the new mouse "habitat" regulations from rebuilding after their homes were destroyed by 2004's Hurricane Ivan.

In October, 2006, federal wildlife officials designated 6,200 acres in coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle as additional "critical habitat" for three mice on the Endangered Species Act list, including the Perdido Key beach mouse.

In setting aside acreage for the Perdido Key beach mouse (in Escambia County, Florida, and Baldwin County, Alabama), "regulators failed to follow the ‘check list' that the ESA requires before government can put a ‘freeze' on private property in the name of species protection," charged Valerie Fernandez, managing attorney with PLF's Atlantic Center. "Officials have to explain, with scientific detail, why they chose the specific areas they want to set aside – but in this case, they haven't done that. Also, they didn't evaluate the economic impacts of their action."

"They're harming hundreds of homeowners and other property owners, without a clearly demonstrated need," Fernandez continued. "In fact, there is no evidence of any beach mice on my clients' property."

"After being victimized by a natural disaster, my clients are now being victimized by oppressive government," said Fernandez. "Essentially, the bureaucrats have taken advantage of a catastrophe that leveled homes, in order to lock up more property under environmental restrictions."

Fernandez emphasized that none of the displaced homeowners she represents is seeking government subsidies. "My clients don't want government financial aid – they want the right to rebuild their homes on their own, private property," she said.

Fernandez's clients include Paul and Gayle Fisher, whose home on Perdido Key off the Florida Panhandle was devastated by Ivan, a strong Category 3 hurricane. Other Perdido Key property owners represented by Fernandez have banded together as Perdido Property Rights, Inc.

Pacific Legal Foundation litigates nationwide to compel federal officials to follow the ESA's own guidelines when listing and regulating species and habitat. This past July, ruling in a PLF case, a federal judge ordered the federal government to conduct mandatory, but long-delayed reviews of 89 listed species in the Sunshine State. And in late June, federal officials finally released the North American bald eagle from the Endangered Species Act list – nearly a decade after it had been pronounced "recovered" – in response to a lawsuit won by PLF in federal court.

The lawsuit announced today is titled, Paul and Gayle Fisher and Perdido Property Rights, Inc. v. Kempthorne, filed in the federal District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation is the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit, public interest legal organization dedicated to defending private property rights and a balanced approach to environmental regulation. PLF is the nation's leading litigator against regulatory abuses under the Endangered Species Act. PLF's Atlantic Center, which litigates throughout Florida and the eastern half of the United States, is headquartered in Stuart, Florida.

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