Endangered Species Law & Policy

 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today issued (pdf) a draft Oregon Greater Sage-Grouse Land Use Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement (LUP Amendment/EIS) for the Oregon Sub-Region.  Once finalized, the LUP Amendment/EIS will cover over 10 million acres of sage-grouse habitat in the species’ Oregon range.

The draft LUP Amendment/EIS is one of fifteen separate planning efforts being undertaken as part of the National Greater Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy.  As we previously reported, BLM has already issued the draft LUP Amendment/EIS for the Nevada and Northeast ...

On November 20, 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California rejected a challenge by various plaintiffs and upheld the biological opinion and incidental take statement issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility Project (Project) located in the Sonoran Desert in Imperial County, California.  See The Protect Our Communities Foundation v. Ashe, No. 12-cv-2212 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 20, 2013) (pdf).  The proposed Project, a utility-scale wind power project, would be comprised of 112 wind turbines ...

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published a 90-day finding (pdf) on two petitions to list the pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and designating critical habitat for the species. According to NMFS, there is substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the species under the ESA may be warranted.

The pinto abalone is a marine gastropod mollusk found in the Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from Sitka Island, Alaska, to Baja California, Mexico, though it is mostly found ...

Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published in the Federal Register a notice of its Record of Decision on an Incidental Take Permit authorizing NiSource, Inc. (NiSource) to "take 10 federally listed species over a 50-year period."  NiSource is engaged in natural gas transmission, storage, and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission, and distribution.  In 2009, NiSource applied for authorization under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act to take 10 federally listed species "in the course of engaging in otherwise lawful gas ...

On November 14, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) determined that Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisonidoes) does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  According to the Service, the species’ populations are stable and there are no threats causing or projected to cause the species to be at risk of extinction.  The Service also removed Gunnison’s prairie dog from the candidate list of threatened or endangered species. 

Gunnison’s prairie dog includes two subspecies that occupy areas of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.  ...

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced (pdf) that it will not list the Gulf of Mexico population of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) as an endangered or threatened distinct population segment (DPS) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Sperm whales were originally listed as endangered under the precursor to the ESA—the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969—and remained on the list of threatened and endangered species after the passage of the ESA in 1973. In December 2011, NMFS received a petition to list the Gulf of Mexico population as a ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recently announced (pdf) the reopening of the public comment periods for its January 11, 2013 proposed rules to list the Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to designate approximately 1.7 million acres of critical habitat for the species in Colorado and Utah. The Service also announced that it was rescheduling two public information sessions and public hearings for the proposed rules, as well as adding a third public informational session and public hearing. These ...

On November 4, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule (pdf) to remove the Inyo California towhee (Pipilo crissalis eremophilus) from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service concluded that delisting the Inyo California towhee is warranted because substantial threats to the species have been ameliorated or reduced since listing, and the species no longer meets the definition of a threatened species under the ESA. 

According to the Service, the total rangewide population of the towhees ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recently announced that it has proposed listing two butterfly species under the Endangered Species Act because of "steep population declines."  The two species are the Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek) and the Dakota skipper (Hesperia dacotae).  The notice issued by the Service states that "[b]oth butterfly species use prairie habitat and are threatened by degradation or changes to their habitat."  The Dakota skipper, which is proposed to be listed as a threatened species, is found in Minnesota ...

On November 4, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved a settlement agreement between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) regarding the impacts of seven pesticides on the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), which is listed under the Endangered Species Act. Pursuant to the settlement, the Service is required to consult with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding whether the use of glyphosate, malathion, simazine, pendimethalin, permethrin, methomyl and ...