Endangered Species Law & Policy

On May, 17, 2016, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water and Energy held hearings on a number of pending bills, including S. 2533, sponsored by Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA).  The bill, titled California Long-Term Provisions for Water Supply and Short-Term Provisions for Emergency Drought Relief Act, is aimed at providing short-term water supplies to drought-stricken California and providing for long-term investments in drought resiliency throughout the Western United States.

Among its many provisions, S. 2533 invests $1.3 ...

After filing an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit less than two weeks prior, on May 10, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) filed an unopposed motion to voluntarily dismiss its appeal of the district court decision that vacated the listing of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Midland Division, identified a number of errors in the Service’s evaluation of the species under the criteria laid out in the ...

On May 11, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule designating approximately 65,038 acres and 20.3 river miles of critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog (Rana pretiosa).  The acres and river miles comprising the critical habitat designation are located in Whatcom, Skagit, Thurston, Skamania, and Klickitat Counties in Washington, and Wasco, Deschutes, Klamath, Lane, and Jackson Counties in Oregon.

According to the Service, the areas designated as critical habitat constitute the Service’s best assessment of the areas that meet the ...

On May 6, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published its proposed revisions to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) permit program.  The stated intention of these proposed revisions is to improve upon the 2009 regulations establishing a permit program under BGEPA.  In 2012, the Service issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public input on aspects of the 2009 regulations.  In addition to updating the best available science regarding eagle populations, conservation measures and causes of eagle mortality, the proposed revisions seek to ...

On April 28, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a revised Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Permit for the Rosemont Copper Mine in Pima County, Arizona. USFWS originally issued a Biological Opinion and Incidental Take Permit for the mine project in 2013. Consultation with USFWS was reinitiated in 2015 primarily due to the listing of additional species not considered during the initial consultation.

The Rosemont Copper Mine is proposed on approximately 955 acres of private land and 75 acres of Arizona State Land Department land, on the east side of the ...

On April 21, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, Service) announced revisions to their proposed modifications  to  the Endangered Species Act (ESA) petition process. 81 Fed. Reg. 23,448 (Apr. 21, 2016) (pdf).  In May 2015, the Service announced proposed changes to the petition process for listing a species or seeking to change the listing status of a species under the ESA. 80 Fed. Reg. 29,286 (May 21, 2015) (pdf).  The Service’s proposed rule originally required petitions to list species to address only one species, contain ...

Environmental Management has released an advanced copy of an article I co-authored with Dr. Dennis Murphy entitled, Guidance on the Use of Best Available Science under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.  The principle purposes of the article are to identify the types of data, analyses, and modeling efforts that can serve as best available science and consider the role and application of best available science in effects analysis and adaptive management.  The article is available free of charge, here

On March 29, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in a lawsuit involving the grant of a lease to Tule Wind, LLC for construction of the second phase of an industrial-scale wind energy facility. The Protect Our Communities Foundation v. Black, Case No. 14-cv-2261 (S.D. Cal. March 29, 2016). Plaintiffs alleged that BIA’s approval of the project (1) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); (2) violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA); and (3) violated ...

This week, two congressional committees are holding three separate hearings on issues related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  On April 19, the House Committee on Natural Resources will hold an oversight hearing entitled Recent Changes to Endangered Species Critical Habitat Designation and Implementation.  On April 20 and 21, the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Interior will hold two hearings to discuss delisting under the ESA.  Nossaman partner, Robert D. Thornton, will testify at the committee hearing on April 20.

The hearing before the Natural ...

On April 8, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that Collier County’s (County) land use planning regulations were complimentary, not contrary to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The court also held that the County's planned future roadway extension did not violate the ESA, because the roadway project was only in the initial planning stages and the County acknowledged that compliance with the ESA was required before any construction activities could take place. Florida Panthers v. Collier County, Case No. 2:13-cv-612 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 8 ...

On April 4, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) August 13, 2014 withdrawal of its proposed rule to list the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine (Withdrawal).  The Withdrawal signaled a complete departure from the Service’s February 2013 proposed rule to list the wolverine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The court’s decision is the newest chapter in what has been a contentious and storied path to a listing decision for the North American ...

On April 5, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued 12-month findings on petitions to list the island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), the San Bernardino flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus californicus), the spotless crake (Porzana tabuensis), and the Sprague’s pipit (Anthus spragueii) under the Endangered Species Act.  The Service concluded that the listing of the island marble butterfly is warranted but precluded by higher priority listing actions, but will place the butterfly on the list of candidate species.  The Service also concluded ...

On March 30, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("Service") issued a final rule designating critical habitat for 125 species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA") on the Hawaiian islands of Molokai, Maui, and Kahoolawe.  The rule designated critical habitat for 50 plant and animal species, and revised critical habitat for 85 plant species, totaling approximately 157,002 acres of critical habitat on Molokai, Maui, and Kahoolawe.  An additional 25,413 acres of critical habitat that had been proposed on Lanai, along with 59,479 acres on Maui ...

In December 2015, Defenders of Wildlife employees published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which they compiled and conducted basic statistical analyses of data regarding section 7 consultations from 2008 to 2015.  Among their findings were the following:

• there were 81,461 informal and 6,829 formal consultations during that period;
• only two consultations resulted in jeopardy determinations; and
• the median duration of informal and formal consultations was 13 days and 62 days.

The authors also presented data sorted by geographic region ...

On March 15, 2016, in Alaska Oil & Gas Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, case number 4:14-cv-00029-RRB, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska vacated a final regulation promulgated by the National Marine Fisheries Service ("NMFS") listing the Arctic subspecies of ringed seal (Phoca hispida hispida, Phoca hispida ochotensis, and Phoca hispida botanica) as threatened and the Ladoga subspecies of ringed seal (Phoca hispida ladogensis) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act ("ESA").  The State of Alaska, North Slope Borough and the Alaska Oil ...

On March 11, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released a final delisting rule, a proposed delisting rule, and a notice of a draft recovery plan.  Each of these is discussed in the order in which they appear in the Federal Register.

First, the Service issued a final rule removing the Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), affectionately referred to as the Teddy bear, from the list of endangered and threatened species.  Based on the black bear’s recovery, the rule also removes the American black bear (Ursus americanus), which was previously listed due to its ...

On March 8, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced (pdf) proposed revisions to its Mitigation Policy that has guided Service recommendations on mitigating the adverse impacts of development on fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats since 1981.  The revised policy provides a framework for achieving a net gain in conservation outcomes, or at a minimum, no net loss of resources and their values, services, and functions resulting from proposed actions.

The Mitigation Policy serves as over-arching guidance applicable to all actions for which the Service has ...

On February 29, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas rejected the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (Service) request to reinstate federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus).  Permian Basin Petrol. Ass 'n v. Dep 't of the Interior, No. 7:14-CV-50 (W.D. Tex. Feb. 29, 2016.).  In September 2015, the court ruled on a challenge brought by the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and four New Mexico counties and vacated the final rule listing the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the ESA.  ...

On February 29, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) designation of critical habitat in Alaska for the polar bear (Ursus maritimus).  Alaska Oil and Gas Ass’n v. Jewell, No. 13-35919 (9th Cir. Feb. 29, 2016).  The Ninth Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision, reinstating the previously vacated critical habitat designation.

In 2013, the district court granted summary judgment to plaintiffs on two grounds.  Substantively, the district court held that the Service failed to identify specifically where ...

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule on February 24, 2016 designating critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for two threatened species—lower Columbia River coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Puget Sound steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).   NMFS designated approximately 2,300 stream miles of freshwater and estuarine habitat in Oregon and Washington for the lower Columbia River coho, as well as approximately 2,031 stream miles of freshwater and estuarine habitat in Puget Sound, Washington for the Puget Sound steelhead.  NMFS ...

On February 11, 2016, in Kuehl v. Cricket Hollow Zoo, Case No. C14-2034, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa ruled that the owners and operators of the Cricket Hollow Zoo, located in rural Manchester, violated the Endangered Species Act's (ESA) take prohibition by failing to provide adequate sanitation and timely veterinary care to tigers, and failing to provide adequate sanitation, in compliance with generally accepted animal husbandry practices, and appropriate environmental enrichment to lemurs under their care.  The court reasoned that the ...

Yes, no, maybe so. With the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, many have already started to prognosticate about the sea change that will inevitably follow. While it is certainly possible that such a sea change will come to pass, it also possible that the Supreme Court will remain much as it has been for more than a decade, with a staunch 4-person conservative block, a staunch 4-person liberal block, leaving Justice Kennedy to decide who wins and who loses. This possibility exists, because right now there are numerous moving parts that could impact who will fill the ninth spot on the Court ...

The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) is in the midst of major changes.  The Commission, which was established in 1870, has been led by a body of five commissioners since 1937.  The Commission has a small staff to support its activities, which include listing and delisting threatened and endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act, establishing hunting and fishing regulations, establishing protected lands and waters, and considering appeal hearings for revocation or suspension of licenses and permits.

At its February 2016 meetings, the ...

On February 10, 2016, lawmakers on the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans are scheduled to discuss several wildlife laws, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).  The Oversight Hearing is entitled The Costly Impacts of Predation and Conflicting Federal Statutes on Native and Endangered Species.  Anticipated topics for discussion include addressing the fact that conflicts between federal statutes often prevent agencies and federal officials from effectively reducing ...

On February 5, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, the Services) announced the availability of two final rules and one policy addressing critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  One of the final rules  revises the definition of destruction or adverse modification, an issue that has been controversial among both critics and proponents of the proposed revisions.  The other final rule  is intended to clarify the criteria for designating critical habitat.  The final policy  updates existing policy on critical ...

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R) and Rep. Matt Salmon (R) recently introduced a bill (pdf) that would remove several western states from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and move them to a newly created Twelfth Circuit.  If the bill is passed as drafted, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands would remain in the Ninth Circuit.  The new Twelfth Circuit would be comprised of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

Two other senators also introduced similar legislation (pdf).  Under the bill proposed by Montana Sen. Steve ...

On January 27, 2016, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule designating approximately 29,763 nautical square miles of marine habitat for the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). The critical habitat is comprised of two areas, with the first region in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank and the second region off the southeastern United States, extending from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Cape Canaveral, Florida. The final rule replaces prior critical habitat designations issued on June 3, 1994 and July 6, 2006. According to NMFS, the areas ...

On January 20, 2015, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approved S. 659, the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015, which complements the bill reported by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee late last year.  However, the Environment and Public Works Committee’s approval adds a number of controversial amendments to the Act’s overarching purpose of increasing recreational hunting, fishing, shooting, conservation, and other access on public lands.  An amendment offered by Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and approved by voice vote, would delist ...

In a notice published on January 15, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced a draft methodology for prioritizing species status reviews and 12-month findings on petitions for listing species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  81 Fed. Reg. 2,229 (Jan. 15, 2016).  The Service currently has over 500 unresolved species status reviews and associated 12-month findings on petitions for listing, and intends to use the changes to its methods to set priorities on how and when those unresolved petitions will be addressed.  The Service’s draft methodology will not ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has announced that it will remove the Johnston’s frankenia (Frankenia johnstonii) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants under the Endangered Species Act.  Johnson frankenia is a perennial shrub endemic to Starr, Webb and Zapata Counties in Texas and the northeastern part of the Mexican states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.  The shrub may be found in very salty soils in open, rocky, gypseous hillsides or saline flats.

USFWS listed the species in 1984, when there were five known populations of this perennial ...

On January 6, 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued its 12-month finding on the petition to list the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, concluding that listing the wolf species throughout all or a significant portion of its range "is not warranted at this time."

The Alexander Archipelago wolf inhabits the mainland of southeastern Alaska, coastal British Columbia, and several island complexes.  On March 31, 2014, the Service issued a 90-day finding for the wolf stating that ...

On December 24, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released its annual Candidate Notice of Review (CNOR) summarizing the status of species that qualify as candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The 2015 CNOR identifies all species designated as candidates and explains the changes to the candidate list from the 2014 CNOR.  The Service assigns each candidate species a listing priority number (LPN) indicating the magnitude of the threat to a species’ continued existence (with one being the highest priority, and twelve being the lowest ...

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a citizen plaintiff is required to provide a notice no less than 60-days before filing certain types of lawsuits against the federal government.  For example, a 60-day notice is required before a citizen plaintiff may file a lawsuit seeking to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to issue a decision on an ESA listing petition.  The primary purpose of the 60-day notice is to give the federal government an opportunity to review and, if necessary, correct the alleged ESA violation before incurring the cost of ...

After weeks of negotiations, on December 18, 2015, Congress finally approved the Fiscal Year 2016 omnibus spending bill.  One hotly debated issue related to the controversial greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).  Republicans had hoped to include a rider rolling back the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service’s sage grouse conservation plans across 67 million acres in several Western states, including California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.  This rider was ultimately cut from the ...

On December 10, 2015, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted to advance the tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) as a candidate species for listing under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).  The species is now subject to the same legal protections as endangered or threatened species under CESA.

As we previously reported, on June 11, 2015, the Commission voted not to make the tricolored blackbird a candidate for listing under CESA.  The species had been listed on an emergency basis in December 2014 but, as a result of the Commission’s inaction in ...

On December 3, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon’s denial of a preliminary injunction sought by environmental plaintiffs to enjoin the Douglas Fire Complex Recovery Project in Oregon’s Klamath Mountains.  Cascadia Wildlands v. Thrailkill, No. 14-35819 (9th Cir. Dec. 3, 2015).  The environmental groups asserted that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) combined recovery project and logging plan to salvage acreage burned by the Douglas Complex Fire would irreparably harm the threatened ...

On November 30, 2015, the California Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated decision in Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Case No. S217763 (Nov. 30, 2015).  The decision comes at the conclusion of a nearly five-year legal battle over the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) for the Newhall Ranch development project (Newhall Ranch) in Los Angeles County.  Newhall Ranch was approved as a mixed-use development on nearly 12,000 acres of land along the Santa Clarita River.  ...

On November 19, 2015, the Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy and Reliability (CESAR) filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) (collectively, Federal Defendants) for violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in connection with the installation, operation and removal of an emergency drought salinity barrier at West False River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern ...

In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule designating 1,724 acres as critical habitat for the endangered Riverside fairy shrimp (Streptocephalus woottoni).  Included in that designation were 56 acres of private land, on which the plaintiff, Otay Mesa Property, L.P. (Otay Mesa), had planned to build a recycling facility and landfill.  Because of the land use restrictions potentially implicated by the critical habitat designation, Otay Mesa challenged the final rule in federal court, asserting that (1) the Service improperly ...

On November 16, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule (pdf) removing the Delmarva fox squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) from the list of endangered and threatened species.  Following its 2012 review of the species, the Service concluded that the best available scientific and commercial data indicate the Delmarva fox squirrel is no longer in danger of extinction or likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

The Service credits the Delmarva fox squirrel’s recovery primarily to the establishment of new populations of the species ...

On October 27, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a memorandum to the Service Regional Directors announcing new guidance to streamline findings on petitions to list species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The stated purpose of the guidance is to streamline petition findings while ensuring [the Service] conducts an adequate review of petitions.   The memorandum clarifies that this guidance is interim guidance until the Service’s amendments to its petition listing rules are final.  Once finalized, the guidance will supersede previous guidance ...

On November 9, 2015, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (Commission) voted to remove the gray wolf (Canis lupus) from protection under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.  The Commission meeting lasted almost 10 hours, with more than 100 people providing public testimony.  The decision was the result of a 4-2 vote by the Commission.

The decision follows the recommendation of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to delist the wolf, as we reported here.  The wolf delisting will not impact the management of the species under the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan ...

On November 3, 2015, the President issued a memorandum entitled Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investment. In it, he states [t]his memorandum will encourage private investment in restoration and public-private partnerships, and help foster opportunities for businesses or non-profit organizations with relevant expertise to successfully achieve restoration and conservation objectives. The memo includes five sections: policy, definitions, federal principles for mitigation, federal action to strengthen ...

On October 29, 2015, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced that it believes that the gray wolf (Canis lupus) has met the criteria to be delisted from the state Endangered Species Act (Oregon ESA). Under the Oregon ESA, ODFW looks at the following five factors to determine if sufficient biological information exists to justify delisting: (1) the species is not now in danger of extinction in any significant portion of its range; (2) the species’ natural reproductive potential is not in danger of failure; (3) the species’ populations are not undergoing imminent ...

On the heels of the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) decision not to list the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) under the Endangered Species Act and the concurrent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issuance of Records of Decision on over 98 land use plans focused on sagebrush habitat, the United States Geological Survey (USGS)  and many other agencies announced their issuance of part one of a three-part handbook series focused on sagebrush steppe ecosystems.  Several federal and state entities, including the U.S. Joint Fire Science Program and National ...

On October 16, 2015, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the signing of a conservation agreement intended to provide greater protections and more flexibility in the management of impacts to sensitive species and their habitats.  The conservation agreement, called the Durability Agreement, will allow CDFW to use BLM lands for various conservation actions, and occasionally for project-level mitigation to meet California state standards.  The Durability Agreement, developed during coordination between CDFW ...

In a notice published on October 8, 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced its proposed 12-month finding on the Center for Biological Diversity’s (CBD) petition to list the Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) as endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Service determined that listing of the subspecies is not warranted because the fox is more abundant than previously believed and because known and potential stressors to the fox are not likely to cause the subspecies to become endangered in the foreseeable future ...

During the last week of its fiscal year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) made several findings under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to meet its obligations under the 2011 listing settlement workplan.  Below is a brief summary of these findings.

On September 29, 2015, the Service published a proposed rule to list four plant species from South Florida (specifically Miami-Dade and Monroe counties).  These include the Big Pine partridge pea (Chamaecrista lineata var. keyensis), the wedge spurge (Chamaesyce deltoidea ssp. Serpyllum) the sand flax (Linum ...

On September 18, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected the assertion by the California Sea Urchin Commission, California Abalone Association, and Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara (Plaintiffs) that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) lacked authority to issue a final rule terminating the California sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) translocation program.  The program was developed to establish a translocated population of sea otters remote from the main population, to help ensure that the entire species would not be wiped ...

On September 22, 2015, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced that the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The Department of the Interior is calling the greater sage-grouse strategy the largest land conservation effort in U.S. history and a 21^st-century approach to conservation.  In reaching its not warranted finding, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) relied upon the collective conservation efforts of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), State ...