AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation submitted a comment to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) opposing recently proposed additions to the state’s list of threatened plant and animal species.
TPPF opposes the unprecedented expansion by TPWD of the state endangered species lists adding 45 species to the lists. The TPWD proposed rules expand state regulation of private property, represent an unprecedented expansion in the number of species regulated under state law, are duplicative of more effective ongoing programs already being funded by the Texas Legislature and operated by the Texas Comptroller in partnership with state universities, and rely on flawed data and unreliable, incomplete information.
“Since at least 2015, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made regulatory reform a cornerstone of his Administration’s priorities,” said Robert Henneke, general counsel and director of the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Yet, in one fell swoop, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department proposes to impose regulatory burdens and criminal penalties upon private property owners across Texas. TPPF calls upon TPWD to withdraw, in total, the proposed rules.”
To read the TPPF Comment in full, please visit:
https://www.texaspolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/TPPF-TPWD-ESA-Public-Comment.pdf