Texas Files Amicus Brief To Protect Private Property Rights

Williamson County and landowner John Yearwood are challenging the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use the Interstate Commerce Clause

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed an amicus brief in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas supporting a lawsuit seeking to delist the Bone Cave Harvestman – a tiny cave-dwelling arachnid – from the endangered list under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Williamson County and landowner John Yearwood are challenging the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to use the Interstate Commerce Clause to regulate non-commercial interactions with the arachnid – which only exists in two Central Texas counties, is not bought nor traded in interstate commerce, and does not otherwise affect interstate commerce.

“The Obama administration is abusing its power under the Endangered Species Act by unlawfully listing a species on the endangered list that only lives in the state of Texas and has no impact on interstate commerce whatsoever. Under the Constitution, the federal government can only act when there is a direct logical connection between the subject being regulated and interstate commerce,” Attorney General Paxton said.

                                                                                                                                                                                                       “A spider that only exists underground in two Texas counties and is neither a bought nor sold commodity fails that test by definition. For such localized species, it is the state and county, not the federal government, which can best address conservation,” Paxton continued.

Yearwood owns a 35-acre property in Williamson County that’s belonged to his family for more than 140 years.

He lets community organizations and church groups use it at no charge for camping and other recreational purposes. But because the Bone Cave Harvestman was found on a portion of his property, Yearwood could be prosecuted by the federal government if the arachnid is disturbed.

The harvestman, which dwells underground in limestone caves, has been listed as endangered since 1988. Williamson County currently maintains 11 harvestman habitat preserves on nearly 900 acres.

Landowners who knowingly harm a Bone Cave Harvestman or its habitat can be subject to $50,000 in fines and up to a year in prison. Development within 35 feet of a known harvestman cave requires $400,000 an acre in mitigation permits.

View a copy of the amicus brief here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/epress/75_Texass_Amicus_Brief.pdf?cachebuster:84