You have owned and lived on a 200 acre tract of land of which about 50 aces is swampy wetland bordered by timber you planted and plan to sell for financial support. The EPA steps in and informs you that an endangered orchid has been discovered in your wetland and that you may not harvest the timber or cultivate any other part of your land due to runoff even though you and the orchid have been co-existing for years. Is this an overreach by the federal government or a reasonable decree? If situations like this really occur, cite an example or two. Is this a reasonable position for the government to take to preserve a species?
