Endangered Species Law & Policy

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold three public hearings on its proposed rule to delist the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of endangered and threatened species. The first hearing is scheduled to occur on September 30, 2013 in Washington, DC. The second will be held on October 2 in Sacramento, California, and the third on October 4 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As we reported here, the comment period for the proposed rule has been extended to October 28, 2013. For further information regarding the proposed rule and its potential impacts on the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus ...

In 2012, the Mill Fire burned almost 30,000 acres in California, destroying large areas of forest, including threatened Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) habitat.  Even after the Mill Fire was finally snuffed out, it continued to have a lasting impact on the environment, as the fire created hazardous conditions along roads and trails used by the public and the National Park Service.  

After preparing an Environmental Assessment and Biological Assessment, on April 23, 2013, the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) approved the Mill Fire Salvage ...

On August 20, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held (pdf) that appellants’ claims against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for an alleged failure to take certain actions under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with respect to the straight-horned markhor (Capra falconeri jerdoni) were moot. 

In 1976, the Service classified the markhor as endangered under the ESA. The species’ primary habitat is the Torghar Hills along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In response to the reduction of the markhor population, local tribal leaders formed ...

In American Forest Resource Council v. Ashe, 1:12-cv-00111 (D.D.C. Sept. 5, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (Service) determination that the Washington, Oregon, and California (tri-state) population of the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) warrants listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a distinct population segment (DPS).

Under the ESA, three factors should be considered when determining whether a population constitutes a DPS: (1) the discreteness of the population segment in ...

On September 4, 2013, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that the public comment period regarding its proposed rule to remove the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of endangered and threatened species, which was due to close on September 11, has been extended by 45 days through 11:59 p.m. on October 28, 2013.  For a discussion of the proposed rule and its potential impacts on the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi), see our June 20, 2013 post available here.  You may also want to check out Sylvia Fallon's blog post on SWiTCHBOARD, which is available here.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has proposed (pdf) downlisting the Santa Cruz cypress (Hesperocyparis abramsiana; previously listed as Cupressus abramsiana) from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Service originally listed the Santa Cruz cypress as endangered in 1987, citing development-related threats to the species’ habitat as the reason for its decline. Officials also noted that alterations in the natural pattern of wildfires were having an adverse impact on the species’ population, as the Santa Cruz cypress relies on ...

On September 4, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, the Services) issued a proposal rule to amend the regulations governing consultation under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would codify the practice of using surrogates to express the amount of extent of anticipated take in an incidental take statement issued concomitant with a biological opinion. The Services indicate that these changes are proposed to improve the flexibility and clarify the development of incidental take statements.

Section ...

In a recently issued press release, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) announced that it and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had entered into two settlement agreements that would increase protection for the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in Arizona and New Mexico.  The press release states that under the two agreements the Fish and Wildlife Service will increase the wolf's recovery territory, stop capturing wolves entering the two states from Mexico, and finalize a rule to allow direct release of Mexican gray wolves into New Mexico.  Under one of the ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has proposed (pdf) listing the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  In addition, the Service has proposed (pdf) designating over 68,000 acres throughout Washington and Oregon as critical habitat for the species.

The Service cited ongoing habitat destruction as the primary threat to the Oregon spotted frog.  Once ranging from British Columbia to northern California, the Oregon spotted frog's historic range has declined by as much as 90 percent due to the filling of ...

On August 28, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule (pdf) adopting an incremental approach to preparing an economic impact analysis required for a critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). As a practical matter, this assessment will primarily consist of analyzing the cost of the time other federal agencies must take to consult with the wildlife agencies before authorizing activities within critical habitat. The analysis will largely ignore the underlying costs of listing a ...