Kermit the frog says that it isn’t easy to be green, but it looks like that’s about to change. The Los Angeles Times (Julie Cart, Frogs Are Granted Protected Area, March 17, 2010, at p. AA4) reports that inasmuch as the California red-legged frog has been declared endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has conferred upon it a habitat all of its own — a modest 1.6 million acres extending over 27 California counties. That’s about the size of Luxembourg. And, as you may have suspected, creating a froggie fiefdom does not come cheap. USFW estimates that the 20-year economic impact of this regulation will run to $159 to $500 million, with 90% of that impacting on new development, and $48.4 million in crop losses. However, the new regulation exempts ranchers and farmers from the provisions of this new regulation if their activities harm the protected frogs unintentionally. In other words, no frog’s legs, fellows.
When contacted for comment on this development, Kermit responded with a hearty “Ribbet!”
