Endangered Species Law & Policy

Yesterday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced that it will re-open the public comment period on its proposal to designate 546,335 acres of critical habitat for the western population of yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.  The announcement came after 17 members of Congress requested that the Service provide additional time for the public to review the proposed critical habitat designation, and two members of Congress publicly criticized the Service's analysis of the economic impacts related to the proposed designation.  (For a further discussion of these events, see the following story by Amy Joi O'Donoghu in the Deseret News.)  According to yesterday's announcement, the Service anticipates providing further information related to the extended comment period "in the coming days."