Rusty patched bumble bees, part of a group of native pollinators with an economic value of $3 billion per year in the United States, are declining in number. Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis), according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Endangered Species. Historically, the species inhabited 28 states throughout the eastern United States and the upper Midwest, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Due to habitat loss, intensive farming, disease, pesticides, and global climate change, the decline in the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee has been so severe that in 2017, the bee was listed as endangered by the federal government. As with a number of other federally and state listed threatened and endangered species, individuals interested in real estate development or other projects should take note because protecting these species will become increasingly more important in the land development permitting process.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 arguably has the most teeth of any wildlife conservation law ever enacted, in part by the creation of a list of threatened and endangered species to which certain protections are afforded, 16 U.S.C.. Sections 1538-1539. Once a species is added to the list, neither individuals of the species nor its critical habitat can be “taken.” The ESA defines “take” as to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, collect or to attempt to engage in any such conduct, 50 C.F.R. Section 402.02. In 1982, in an attempt to lessen conflicts between listed species and economic development activities, Congress authorized and ‘incidental take” permit—a take that is “incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity.” This amendment to the ESA also requires that prospective project developers who obtain an incidental take permit create, execute, and secure funding for a habitat conservation plan (HCP) to reduce the damage to the affected species.
