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 Thursday, October 5, 2017, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) announced 12-month not warranted findings on petitions to list 25 species as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  It is likely that the Service’s not warranted findings represent the Trump administration’s departure from the previous administration’s  90-day determinations wherein the Service found that the petitions contain substantial information that listing may be warranted.  For over half of the 25 species, the not warranted findings satisfy the terms of various ...