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Article: This land is whose land? (protecting endangered species often poses hardships for humans on whose land they live)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- October 20, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Should endangered species be saved at all costs? Join the debate as Congress decides whether to make major changes in the Endangered Species Act.
Yshmael Garcia woke up to the sounds of a crackling blaze at 3 o'clock in the morning on October 27, 1993. As Garcia and his family escaped, they watched a ferocious brushfire bum their house to the ground. "We lost everything," Garcia says.
Today Garcia is still fuming. He believes he lost his home and possesions just to save a rat. The Stephen's kangaroo rat, which lives on Garcia's land, is protected by the Endangered Species Act. Passed by Congress in 1973, the Act makes it a crime to "harass, harm, pursue, ...