WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of House members Thursday introduced legislation to overhaul the Endangered Species Act, once regarded as one of the nation's most popular environmental laws but now a lightning rod for critics who see it as an egregious example of regulatory overreaching by the federal government.

The bill, drafted by a GOP task force, calls for the government to compensate private property owners for the lost use of their lands and would require additional scientific review before the government can list a species as endangered.

It also would establish incentive programs to encourage property owners to conserve critical habitat and shift more responsibility to the states and property owners to work out recovery plans for threatened species and their ecosystems.

In general, the bill's sponsors say they seek to bring back into balance a well-meaning law that has been overzealously administered.

Staunch environmentalists say the overhaul would gut the landmark 1973 law.

Rep. George Miller of Martinez, Calif., the former Democratic chairman of the House Resources Committee, called the bill "an out-and-out effort by extremist anti-environmentalists to destroy a crucial law."

In recent years, the law has been attacked by property-rights advocates, developers and their allies in Congress--mainly Republicans and conservative Democrats, about 15 of whom joined a press conference to introduce the long-awaited legislation.

Once lauded as the salvation of the bald eagle and the grizzly bear, the law now often thwarts individuals and businesses from using their property in order to protect little-known birds, rodents and insects, critics say.

Among the many controversies the law has spawned are battles over the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, the red-cockaded woodpecker in the Southeast and the gnatcatcher in Orange and San Diego counties.

California Republican Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy, who led the task force that developed the legislation, said the Endangered Species Act is broken and needs replacement.

"People are terrified that they are going to find an endangered species on their property and are destroying habitat before it becomes inhabited by these species," Pombo said at a press conference to introduce the legislation, co-authored by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Resources Committee. "This bill creates incentives to encourage property owners to host endangered species. It is better for both species and people than the current act."