by Alston Chase

About the author: Alston Chase is a nationally syndicated columnist on the environment.

First, the news: The Endangered Species juggernaut continues to roll. On Sept. 12, 1994, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced it would consider declaring as endangered “all salmon and anadromous [i.e., sea-run] trout populations in Washington, Oregon and California.” Three days later, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed four species of fairy shrimp in California’s Central Valley as endangered.

Now the question: What is the historical significance of these events? We already know the Endangered Species Act is a scientific fraud and economic calamity. It is designed to maintain a balance of nature that never existed. It pursues the impossible dream of halting evolution. Its partisans say it promotes “biodiversity,” but they won’t define the...