Endangered Species Law & Policy

Last Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule listing two plants as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The two species, Florida brickell-bush (Brickellia mosieri) and Carter’s small-flowered flax (Linum carteri carteri), are both native to Miami-Dade County, Florida. According to the Service, the species’ habitat has suffered degradation as a result of inadequate fire management, nonnative plant species, and human activities. The brickell-bush is known to be present in just 17 sites, while Carter’s small-flowered ...

This morning, the House Committee on Natural Resources is holding a legislative hearing on six proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The live video webcast of the hearing can be accessed here.  The six proposed amendments are:

H.R. 1314 - establishing a procedure for approval of certain types of settlements

H.R. 1927 - providing congressional direction for implementation of the ESA as it relates to operation of the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project and for water relief in the State of California

H.R. 4256 - requiring the wildlife agencies ...

Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) posted a Notice of Availability of the Revised Draft Recovery Plan for the Coterminous United States Population of Bull Trout (pdf). The plan is intended to manage threats and ensure sufficient distribution and abundance of bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) so that protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is no longer required.

The bull trout was listed as threatened under the ESA in 1999. USFWS previously prepared three separate recovery plans for the species: (1) a 2002 draft plan to address populations within ...

In a 90-day finding (pdf) published this morning in the Federal Register, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) found that the listing of the orange clownfish (Amphiprion percula) "may be warranted" under the Endangered Species Act.  This finding was based in large part on the threat from "bleaching and subsequent loss of anemone habitat resulting from ocean warming" to three species of anemone that host the orange clownfish.  NMFS is now conducting a full status review of the species, and it has solicited scientific and commercial information pertaining to the ...

The Endangered Species Committee within the American Bar Association's Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources recently released its periodic Endangered Species Committee Newsletter (pdf).  The newsletter includes articles regarding efforts to address climate change impacts on listed species through assessment of impacts of carbon dioxide versus mercury emissions, the implications of comprehensive listing deadline settlements, the expanding reach of the ESA, and the intersection between mountaintop mining and the ESA.

On August 21, 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Montana remanded the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Forested State Trust Lands Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and suspended the associated Endangered Species Act Section 10(a)(1)(B) Permit(Permit) for incidental take of the threatened grizzly bear.  Friends of the Wild Swan v. Jewell, No. CV 13-61 (Aug. 21, 2014). The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (Department) prepared the HCP to support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) issuance of ...

Last week, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana upheld the designation of approximately 1,544 acres of privately-owned timber land located in Louisiana as critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa), concluding that even though the frog was last spotted on the property in the 1960s and the only known wild populations of the frog are all located in the State of Mississippi, the designation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was not arbitrary or capricious.  Markle Interests, LLC v. U.S. Fish and ...

On August 20, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) declined to list (pdf) the Upper Missouri River Distinct Population Segment of the Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

According to the Service, ongoing conservation efforts initiated by private landowners and federal and state officials have worked to improve conditions for the species. These voluntary programs, including irrigation flow reductions and fish ladders, have improved habitat quality for the trout. The Service estimates that these ...

In Center for Biological Diversity v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 11-cv-00293-JCS (pdf), plaintiffs alleged that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violated section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by failing to initiate and reinitiate consultation with the National Marine Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with respect to its ongoing oversight of 382 active pesticide ingredients.

As previously reported, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted EPA’s motions to dismiss for failure to state an affirmative ...

On August 12, a judge for the Northern District of California granted (pdf) a motion to dismiss claims alleging that a federal agency violated section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to consult with federal wildlife agencies concerning the potential effects of its actions on listed species in the Great Barrier Reef.

The case concerned $4.8 billion in funding for the construction of two liquefied natural gas projects in and around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. See Center for Biological Diversity, et al. v. Export-Import Bank of the United ...