Comment on FR Doc # 2012-00662

I own property within one mile of one of the proposed designated critical habitat areas. I have asked for, but been given no assurance that the critical habitat will not cross onto my property, or will not be later revised to include my property as the reintroduced Mississippi Gopher Frog increases in population. I have plans to use and/or develop my property, and I have been given no assurance that these activities will not be affected by the critical habitat designation. Private property rights are basic to the founding of the United States of American and constitutionally protected. Designation of private property as critical habitat without the property owner’s consent constitutes a diminishing of what that owner may do with his or her property and a devaluing of that property. This is theft, and it is the government’s duty to protect private property against theft, not participate in the theft itself. Furthermore, new endangered species are discovered with great frequency, raising the probability that more and more property will need to be designated as critical habitat for some species, especially as those species are introduced to new areas. This open-ended power is a real threat to private property rights. The US Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as their Mississippi state affiliates, must give assurance to property owners of the limits of the power to designate private property. It must be clear as to its intentions when asking for access to private property and as to the extent of the designation. Better still would be making participation in the designation of critical habitat a voluntary event.