Endangered Species Law & Policy

On March 27, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services) made available pre-publication versions of the agencies’ long-awaited updates to regulations implementing sections 4 and 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Services have finalized joint rules addressing interagency consultation requirements under ESA section 7 and the procedures for listing, reclassifying, delisting, and designating critical habitat for species under ESA section 4; and USFWS has finalized its reinstatement of ...

On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule listing the northern long-eared bat (NLEB) (Myotis septentrionalis) as an endangered species under Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), reclassifying it from its former threatened status and rescinding its section 4(d) rule. In determining whether to list the NLEB, the Service looked to factor C of ESA section 4, which requires the Service to make a listing determination if “disease or predation” poses a threat to the species. The Service cited the impacts of white nose syndrome (WNS ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has announced its proposal to list the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) (NLEB) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Proposed Rule). While Service policy indicates the agency should identify in a listing rule activities that would or would not result in a violation of the “take” prohibition set forth in section 9 of the ESA, the Service indicates in the Proposed Rule that it is unable to identify specific activities what would not violate the take prohibition. The Service points to the need for ...

On November 19, 2020, in a call back to its criminal lawsuit against Joseph “Tiger King” Maldonado-Passage, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against the husband and wife team who took over the wildlife park that was front and center throughout the Netflix hit series Tiger King – Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe. Unlike the prior lawsuit against Mr. Maldonado-Passage (previously covered here), the lawsuit against the Lowes does not seek jail time, nor does it seek damages. Instead, the lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to (1 ...

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 ...

Two men were sentenced in federal court last week after admitting to the 2007 slaughter of over 100 federally endangered Indiana bats in Kentucky.  In light of the brutality of the attacks, one man received 3 years probation, while the second man, who was involved in two separate attacks on the endangered bat, was sentenced to eight months in federal prison.  

Both men pleaded guilty to violating the take prohibition in the federal Endangered Species Act ("ESA"), which provides for a maximum criminal penalty of $50,000 or one year in prison, or both.  While the ...

On February 27, 2010, the Sacramento Bee published a story by Matt Weiser entitled "Lawsuit: Striped bass to blame for California's salmon decline." The story discusses an ongoing lawsuit (PDF) challenging the California Department of Fish and Game's enforcement of striped bass sport-fishing regulations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The lawsuit alleges that the enforcement of the striped bass sport-fishing regulations maintain an elevated striped bass population, which increases striped bass predation on a number of species listed under the Endangered ...