Endangered Species Law & Policy

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced it had opened status reviews for 38 species of plants, wildlife, and fish endemic to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona (Southwest Species). Section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the Service to evaluate the status of species listed as threatened and endangered at least once every five years (5-year Review) and determine, based on that evaluation, whether any such species should be delisted, downlisted (from endangered to threatened), … 

On August 15, 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a series of notices in the Federal Register announcing the agency’s 12-month and 90-day findings on petitions to list a number of species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Most prominently, the FWS declined to list two species commonly known as the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia and Yucca jaegeriana) ...