Endangered Species Law & Policy

On October 10, 2013, the Endangered Species Act Congressional Working Group (Working Group) held a forum entitled Reviewing 40 Years of the Endangered Species Act and Seeking Improvement for People and Species. The forum featured 17 panelists, who discussed ways in which the Endangered Species Act (ESA) can be strengthened and improved to better serve the needs of both species and people. Participants specifically highlighted the need to empower states, local governments, and private landowners to conserve species and avoid federal listings, the need for balance within the law ...

The Endangered Species Act Congressional Working Group is scheduled to hold a forum tomorrow morning entitled "Reviewing 40 Years of the Endangered Species Act and Seeking Improvement for People and Species."  A press release issued by the Working Group states that the forum "will feature a diverse group of invited stakeholders who will testify on all angles of the ESA, its impacts on species and people over the last 40 years, and potential improvements going forward."  According to a recent story published by the Environment & Energy Daily entitled Sides spar over ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recently proposed listing (pdf) the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The red knot is a medium-sized shorebird about 9 to 11 inches in length that migrates more than 9,000 miles annually between its breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic and Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. During its migration, the bird spends considerable time along the eastern seaboard of the United States.

According to the Service, the species has declined, in part, due to an increase in ...

On October 3, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) declined to list (pdf) the Kittlitz’s murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) under the Endangered Species Act. Responding to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the Service concluded after a 12-month finding that, based on the best available scientific and commercial information, listing the species is not warranted at this time.

The Kittlitz’s murrelet is an Alaskan seabird that forages in coastal waters near glacier outflows. The petition to list the species stated that glacier loss due to ...

In December 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published (pdf) a proposed rule to list 66 species of reef-building coral as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and to re-classify two species from threatened to endangered.  At that time, NMFS stated that climate change posed one of the most significant threats to these species.  NMFS has now extended (pdf) the deadline for making a final determination on all 68 species for an additional six months, citing scientific disagreement on the sufficiency, accuracy, and applicability of climate ...

As reported earlier today by Emily Yehle of Greenwire, if the U.S. Government fails to avoid a government shutdown before tomorrow, a number of federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Interior are planning to "pull the plug on their online presence."  (E&ENewsPM, Sept. 30, 2013).  You may ask, what other impacts will there be as a result of the impending government shutdown?  While, according to the Department of the Interior's website (pdf), as a general matter "Service employees will not continue to work" on court ordered ...

On September 24, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) entered into a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity, requiring the Service to determine whether to list nine species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The agreement covers three freshwater species, the bridled darter (Percina kusha, formerly Percina sp. cf. macrocephala), Panama City crayfish (Procambarus econfinae), and Suwannee moccasinshell mussel (Medionidus walkeri), which are found in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. Bicknell's thrush (Catharus bicknelli), a New ...

 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) recently listed (pdf) the Jemez Mountains salamander (Piethodon neomexicanus) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service also recently published (pdf) a final rule listing the Texas golden gladecress (Leavenworthia texana) as endangered and the Neches River rose-mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx) as threatened under the ESA.

The Jemez Mountains salamander is found only in the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico, in Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval Counties. The salamander is generally found around the rim of ...

Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) announced (pdf) the availability of its recovery plan (pdf) for the threatened southwest Alaska Distinct Population Segment of the northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni).  The recovery plan describes the status of the otter, its history, and a number of actions the Service believes will allow for the delisting of the otter.  With respect to the otter's declining status, the recovery plan states that "[t]he only identified threat factor that is judged to have a high importance to recovery is predation[,]" and ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has listed (pdf) the Neosho mucket (Lampsilis rafinesqueana) as endangered and the rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica cylindrica) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Both are species of freshwater mussels found in river systems in the eastern half of the United States.

The Service reported that of 16 historical populations of Neosho mucket, only nine remain extant, and of those all but one is declining in numbers.  The Neosho mucket has been extirpated from appriximately 62 percent of its historical range.  ...