Endangered Species Law & Policy

Longtime California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Director Charlton “Chuck” Bonham recently stepped down after 15 years at the helm. His departure marks the end of the longest tenure in the Department’s 150‑year history. CDFW has principal responsibility to implement California’s wildlife laws, including the California Endangered Species Act, Natural Community Conservation Planning Act, Lake and Streambed Alteration Program, and California’s fully protected species statutes.

Bonham left his post to join The Nature Conservancy as its California ...

On December 8, 2025, a Massachusetts Federal District Court struck down federal agency resistance to permitting wind energy projects. The court granted summary judgment to seventeen states and Alliance for Clean Energy New York and vacated what the court referred to as the federal agencies’ “Wind Order.”

The agencies implemented the Wind Order in response to a Presidential Memorandum issued on January 20, 2025, entitled Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf From Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and ...

On August 1, 2025, the Senate approved Brian Nesvik, President Trump’s nominee for Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service). The Service shares responsibility for administering the Endangered Species Act of 1973 with the National Marine Fisheries Service within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mr. Nesvik has decades of experience working for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and rose to the position of Director of the Department in 2019. He served in that position until 2024. Mr. Nesvik also served in the Wyoming Army National Guard ...

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, in part, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The federal Endangered Species Act deals with a different type of “taking.” Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act generally prohibits any person from “taking” any species of fish or wildlife listed as endangered. 16 U.S.C § 1538. This is a general prohibition, because if a project involves a federal permit or approval, a federal resource agency can prepare a biological opinion under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and ...

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” which requires all agencies to identify actions that potentially burden deployment of domestic energy resources and develop plans to revise, rescind, and suspend any such actions (Executive Order). On February 3, 2025, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum (Secretary), issued Secretarial Order 3418, “Unleashing American Energy” (Secretarial Order), which provides 15 days for agencies within the Department of the Interior to submit a plan on how they will comply with the Executive Order. … 

On July 18, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Fifth Circuit) vacated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (District Court) that upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2022 environmental, social and governance (ESG) rule (ESG Rule). The ESG Rule, issued pursuant to President Biden’s Executive Order, “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis,” allows Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciaries to give weight to “the economic effects of ...

On February 2, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule increasing civil monetary penalties for violations of several federal wildlife and natural resource protection laws (Final Rule).  The Final Rule updates penalties for violations of the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Lacey Act, and other statutes concerning federally protected animal species.

Under section 4 of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. 2461, as amended by the Inflation Adjustment ...

On May 15, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued two mitigation policies: one titled “Mitigation Policy” and another titled “Endangered Species Act Compensatory Mitigation Policy.” The Mitigation Policy provides a framework to inform Service mitigation procedure and policy, while the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Compensatory Mitigation Policy provides guidance on implementation of the ESA through compensatory mitigation mechanisms. The Service states that both policies are intended as guidelines for Service personnel to follow when ...

Unbelievably, it was March 17, 2020 when California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-29-20 (amending Executive Order N-25-20 in part) as part of a series of emergency measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  EO N-29-20 allows local or state legislative bodies to hold meetings via teleconference and to make meetings accessible electronically without violating the open meeting laws found in the Bagley-Keene Act or the Brown Act. This order waived certain provisions of the Brown Act, including requirements that meetings be conducted in physical locations; ...

The first 100 days of a new administration can define what lies ahead for the next four years. Join our panel of Nossaman Environment & Land Use attorneys from across the U.S. on April 15, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT as we review and evaluate the Biden administration’s first 100 days of policy moves involving environmental and natural resources management.

We will discuss efforts to fill leadership roles at CEQ, EPA, Interior, DOT and other federal agencies. Updates and analysis will be provided regarding key areas of policy, legislation and regulation, including:

• Climate ...