Posts in Listing.

On February 28, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) denial of a petition filed by the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association (Cattle Growers) urging the Service to remove the southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) (flycatcher) from the list of endangered species (Petition). The Cattle Growers had argued that the Service’s denial of the Petition, and specifically the agency’s finding that the flycatcher is a valid subspecies of the unlisted willow flycatcher, violated the ...

Groups Petition California Fish and Game Commission to List Western Burrowing Owl

On March 5, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity and several other groups submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to list the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) as endangered or threatened pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act. The petition identifies five separate populations (or evolutionarily significant units (ESUs)) of burrowing owls and petitions to list three as endangered and two as threatened. Alternatively, the petition requests that the Commission consider either (i) listing a greater ...

CBD Lawsuit Challenges Service’s Failure to Prevent Toxic Pesticides from Harming Endangered Species

On February 1, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed an amended complaint (Complaint) in the U.S. District Court of Arizona, alleging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) failed to timely analyze the harmful effects of six pesticides on species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and their habitats. The lawsuit stems from the Service’s failure to issue biological opinions to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to that agency’s request for formal ESA section 7 consultation with the Service over the EPA’s 2017 and 2021 ...

Resource Optimization and Endangered Species Management

On December 21, 2023, I published a post on the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management’s DeltaCurrents blog discussing integration of resource optimization into endangered species policy to improve conservation outcomes. Resource optimization is the allocation of finite resources in the most efficient manner possible. In the context of wildlife management, it is a structured process to select a management action from among available alternatives intended to result in the most efficient allocation of resources to achieve a specified objective. … 

Unified Agenda Forecasts Proposed and Final Listings and Critical Habitat Designations for Species Found in Eastern States

As previously reported, on December 6, the Biden Administration published the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), outlining the various regulatory and deregulatory actions the Biden Administration plans to take in the near future. Among the Unified Agenda entries are numerous U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) actions to propose or finalize endangered and threatened species listings and critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Below is a sampling of potential species listings and critical ...

Unified Agenda Forecasts Anticipated Timing of ESA Regulations

As we have previously reported, on December 6, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda). The Unified Agenda, published twice a year, lists the upcoming rulemakings, policies, notices, revisions, and other actions that federal executive agencies plan to complete over the next several months. This most recent iteration of the Unified Agenda is notable in that it represents the slate of actions the Biden Administration hopes to complete in advance of a potential change in administrations … 

Western States Will See Species Listings, Critical Habitat Designations According to Unified Agenda

As we have previously reported, on December 6, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which lists the regulatory and deregulatory actions that federal administrative agencies—including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)—plan to take in the coming year. According to the Unified Agenda, the western United States can expect a number of proposed and final rules to list species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and to designate critical habitat ...

Unified Agenda Foretells Species Listings, Critical Habitat Designations for Texas

On December 6, the Biden Administration released the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Unified Agenda), which lists the regulatory and deregulatory actions the various federal administrative agencies—including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service)—plan to take in the near future. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs publishes an updated Unified Agenda twice a year, in the spring and fall. There are numerous entries in the Unified Agenda addressing future action by the Service to list species as threatened or endangered ...

Service Lists Population of North American Wolverine as Threatened with Interim 4(d) Rule

On November 30, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule listing a distinct population segment (DPS) of the North American wolverine (Gulo gulo luscas) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The wolverine is a medium-sized carnivore found in Alaska, Canada and the western-northwestern United States. The current listing is limited to the DPS of wolverine occurring in the contiguous United States. In the Federal Register notice … 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Listing Oblong Rocksnail, Once Believed Extinct

On October 31, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed listing the oblong rocksnail (Leptoxis compacta) as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The freshwater snail exists only in the Cahaba River in central Alabama and subsists on algae growing on the riverbed. The oblong rocksnail was declared extinct in 2000 after several decades without a confirmed specimen observation and multiple river surveys. In 2011, a population was discovered which inhabits a 5.6 river mile stretch of the Cahaba River about 10 miles south of Birmingham ...

On September 30, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in a case challenging the agency’s final rule downlisting the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) to “threatened species” status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

In its opinion, the court held that the Service adhered to a reasonable interpretation of the ESA and followed proper procedures when deciding to downlist the American burying beetle to threatened status despite noting climate change ...

On October 3, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published two proposed rules to list three species—the northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata), the southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida), and the short-tailed snake (Lampropeltis extenuata)—as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed listings also include proposed 4(d) rules for each species. However, according to the Federal Register notices, the Service concluded that designating critical habitat for each of the three species is not currently determinable, and ...

California Protected Species Law Changes: Real Fix or Red Tape?

I recently authored an article for Law360 on the impact of SB 147, which was signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 10, 2023, and amends California's "fully protected species" statutes. These laws were enacted in 1970, and currently protect 37 species native to California, ranging from the massive North Pacific right whale to the diminutive salt marsh harvest mouse.

The amendments create a temporary, 10-year permitting regime that allows proponents of a limited, defined set of projects to pursue authorization from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ...

On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule listing two distinct population segments (DPS)—the North Feather and Central Coast DPSs—of the foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) (Frog) as threatened (Threatened DPSs) and two additional DPSs of the Frog—the South Sierra and South Coast DPSs—as endangered (Endangered DPSs) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In the preamble to the final rule, the Service indicated that designating critical habitat for all four DPSs of the Frog is not determinable at this time due to a lack ...

Critical Habitat Proposed for Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly

On August 10, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas Anicia cloudcrofti) under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed critical habitat designation encompasses 1,636.9 acres of land in the Sacramento Mountains in Otero County, New Mexico, and follows the Service’s January 2023 final rule listing the species as endangered.

As explained in the proposed rule, the Service considered physical and biological features “essential to the ...

Service Proposes to List Two Mussel Species and Designate Critical Habitat in Texas

On July 25, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to list two mussel species, the Salina mucket (Potamilus metnecktayi) and Mexican fawnsfoot (Truncilla cognata), as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service also proposed to designate critical habitat for these species under the ESA. The proposed critical habitat for the Salina mucket would amount to approximately 200 river miles in the Texan counties of Brewester, Terrell, and Val Verde, and the proposed critical habitat for the Mexican fawnsfoot would amount to ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lists Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl as Threatened with a 4(d) Rule

On July 20, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule listing the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum) (“Owl”) as a threatened subspecies with a 4(d) rule under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The 4(d) rule prohibits the same activities prohibited for endangered species, but allows exemptions for certain education and outreach activities permitted under a Migratory Bird Treaty Act permit, surveying and monitoring in Arizona under a state scientific activity permit, and habitat restoration and enhancement ...

California Amends Fully Protected Species Statutes: Streamlining or More Red Tape?

On July 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 147 (SB147) into law, amending California’s “fully protected species” statutes. These laws were enacted in 1970 and currently protect 37 species native to California, ranging from the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica) to the salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris). The amendments enacted by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor create a temporary, 10-year permitting regime that allows proponents of a limited, defined set of projects to pursue authorization from the ...

Services Propose New Regulatory Revisions Under the Endangered Species Act

On June 22, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the Services), issued three sets of proposed revisions to their Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations addressing: (1) interagency consultations under ESA section 7; (2) the procedures and criteria for listing, reclassifying, delisting, and designating critical habitat for species under ESA section 4; and (3) reinstatement of USFWS’s blanket ESA section 4(d) rule which, prior to its repeal in 2019, extended the take prohibitions of ESA section 9 to all ...

Massachusetts Court Rejects Endangered Species Act Challenge to Offshore Wind Project

On May 17, 2023, the federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted summary judgment in favor of the United States Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Vineyard Wind and denied summary judgment to the plaintiffs in the case of Nantucket Residents Against Turbines v. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 21-cv-11390 (Talwani, J.). This is the first federal court decision upholding, on the merits, the federal government’s approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind project. There are three other cases pending that also seek to block the construction ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Publishes Updated National Listing Workplan

This month, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published the latest update to its National Listing Workplan (Workplan). This update to the Workplan is the Service’s latest since March 2022 and projects the anticipated timeline for the agency’s listing-related decisions over the next five years (2023-2027). In general, the Workplan estimates the Service’s publication dates for various findings and publications, including but not limited to 12-month findings, species status reviews, proposed listing determinations and critical habitat ...

Service Lists Bracted Twistflower as Threatened Species and Designates Critical Habitat

On April 11, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule listing the bracted twistflower (Streptanthus bracteatus), a wildflower native to Texas, as threatened with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service also finalized a critical habitat designation for the species spanning approximately 1,596 acres in the Texas counties of Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, and Travis. The critical habitat designation consists of almost entirely public land, with the exception of approximately 63 acres of privately owned land (however ...

Service Declines to List Coyote on Basis of Resemblance to Endangered Mexican Wolf

On April 3, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) rejected a petition filed by a group of environmental organizations under section 4(e) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to list the coyote (Canis latrans) as an endangered species due to its similarity of appearance to the endangered Mexican wolf (C. lupus baileyi). Section 4(e) of the ESA gives the Service the ability to list a species on the basis that its “similarity of appearance” to an endangered or threatened species imperils the protected species’ survival and recovery.

In the petition, the environmental ...

Federal Court Allows Center for Biological Diversity to Continue Large ESA Lawsuit Against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling allowing the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to continue pursuing its large Endangered Species Act (ESA) lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Department of the Interior.

The underlying lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleges that the Service violated the ESA by failing to timely publish 12-month findings on nearly 200 listing petitions, final listing determinations for six species, and designations of critical habitat for four species.  In response, the Service filed a ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Again Finds Listing of Joshua Trees Not Warranted

On March 9, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued its 12-month finding that listing Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia and Y. jaegeriana) as endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is not warranted. The 12-month finding was made to comply with a September 20, 2021 court-ordered remand of the Service’s previous “not warranted” finding in August 2019.

In September 2015, WildEarth Guardians submitted a petition to list the Joshua trees as threatened and, if applicable, designate critical habitat for the species. The Service issued ...

Species Status Assessments under the Endangered Species Act

On February 28, 2023, I published a post on the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management’s DeltaCurrents blog discussing Species Status Assessments (SSAs) as a tool to facilitate implementation of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) describes the SSA framework as “an analytical approach developed . . . to deliver foundational science for informing all [ESA] decisions.” The Service has explained it intends SSAs to provide “focused, repeatable, and rigorous scientific assessment” that results in ...

Service Proposes Listing Two Populations of California Spotted Owl Under ESA

On February 23, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to list two distinct population segments (DPSs) of the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) as endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The two DPSs are the Coastal-Southern California DPS, which the Service proposes to list as endangered, and the Sierra Nevada DPS, which the Service proposes to list as threatened with a rule issued under section 4(d) of the ESA (4(d) rule). The proposed rule also serves as the Service’s 12-month finding on a petition to list ...

On January 24, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed to designate approximately 104 river miles as critical habitat for the sickle darter (Percina williamsi) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The critical habitat designation would be divided into six areas—Little River, Emory River and Rock Creek, Copper Creek, North Fork Holston River, Middle Fork Holston River, and Sequatchie River—which together span Bledsoe, Blount, Morgan, and Roane Counties in Tennessee, and Scott, Smyth, and Washington Counties in Virginia. Nearly 80 percent of the ...

Service Lists Northern Long-eared Bat as Endangered

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 ...

Court Sends Endangered Species Act Regulations Back to the Agencies

On November 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (District Court) remanded three sets of Endangered Species Act (ESA) regulations promulgated in 2019 under the Trump administration back to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, Services) for reconsideration. The three regulations addressed: how species are listed and delisted and critical habitat designated under ESA section 4; interagency consultation under ESA section 7; and a final rule repealing USFWS’s blanket ESA ...

Lesser Prairie-Chicken Back in Court

On October 25, 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) over the agency’s failure to timely finalize a proposed rule to list the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) (LEPC). CBD seeks an order from the court declaring the Service is in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to timely list the LEPC and requiring the Service to publish one or more final rules by a date certain.

On June 1, 2021, and in response to a 2016 petition to list the LEPC, the Service proposed to list two distinct population ...

Service Proposes Listing Two California Salamander Species with Critical Habitat Designations

On October 18, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced 12-month findings on a petition to list three California-based salamander species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA): the Kern Plateau salamander (Batrachoseps robustus), the Kern Canyon slender salamander (Batrachoseps simatus), and the relictual slender salamander (Batrachoseps relictus). All three salamander species occur in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. The Service determined that listing the Kern Canyon slender salamander and the relictual slender salamander is ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Listing Two Snakes and Designating Critical Habitat

Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) proposed to list two snake species, the Key ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus acricus) and the rim rock crowned snake (Tantilla oolitica), as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service also proposed to designate critical habitat for these nonvenomous snakes, including approximately 2,604 acres in Monroe County and approximately 5,972 acres in Miami-Dade County and Monroe County, Florida for the Key ring-necked snake and rim rock crowned snake, respectively. The proposal comes as a result of a ...

More Bat News, Service Proposes to List Tricolored Bat as Endangered

On September 14, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a proposed rule to list the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) (TRBA) as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The TRBA is known to occur in all or portions of 39 states across the northeast, as far south as southern Texas and Florida and as far west as Wyoming. Similar to the proposed rule to list the northern long-eared bat as endangered published earlier this year, the proposed rule cites white nose syndrome as the primary threat to the TRBA, but notes other factors influence the ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agrees to Make Listing Decision on Dunes Sagebrush Lizard

On August 25, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) filed a stipulated settlement agreement (Agreement) in a case challenging the agency’s failure to timely make a 12-month finding on a petition to list the dunes sagebrush lizard (Scleroperus arenicolus) (Petition). Under the Agreement, the Service will submit a 12-month finding on the Petition to the Federal Register no later than June 29, 2023. The 12-month finding will determine whether listing the species is warranted (and will simultaneously issue a proposed rule to list the species), whether listing the ...

On August 23, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a notice in response to petitions seeking to list, delist, or revise the critical habitat of four species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service found the petitions to list the Fish Lake Valley tui chub (Siphateles bicolor ssp. 4) and to delist the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) “present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted,” and are therefore initiating status reviews to determine whether to list and delist the species, respectively. …

Service Proposes Listing and Critical Habitat Designation for Magnificent Snail

For the magnificent ramshorn (Planorbella magnifica), a fresh-water snail species native to southeastern North Carolina, efforts to secure protection under the federal Endangered Species Act have progressed at a snail’s pace. Today, twelve years after environmentalists originally petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to list the species, the Service proposed to list the magnificent ramshorn as endangered, and to designate two ponds spanning 739 acres as critical habitat for the species. The proposed rule was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the Center of ...

Court Vacates Trump-Era ESA Regulations

On July 5, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order vacating three Trump-era regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”).

In 2019, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (collectively, the “Services”) issued three final rules (“2019 ESA Rules”) modifying how the Services implement the ESA, including: (1) a rule under section 4 of the ESA concerning how the Services list, delist, and reclassify endangered or threatened species and the criteria for ...

Listing Decision on Western Joshua Tree Delayed by Tied Vote

On June 16, 2022, a vote by the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) on whether the Western Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) should be listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) resulted in a 2-2 tie. Pursuant to the Commission’s rules, the Western Joshua tree will remain a “candidate” under CESA and the issue will be taken up again at a subsequent Commission meeting. The Commission will take up the Western Joshua tree’s listing status at the agency’s October 12-13, 2022 meeting and will re-open the comment period on the species’ ...

Dunes Sagebrush Lizard Back in Court

On May 19, 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) failure to make a timely 12-month finding on the group’s petition to list the dunes sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) (DSL), which was submitted to the agency in 2018.

The DSL is no stranger to controversy. In 2002, CBD and others petitioned the Service to list the DSL due to alleged threats to the species’ habitat caused by oil and gas production. In 2004, the Service determined that ...

Federal Court Orders Service to Take a Third Look at Bi-State Sage Grouse Listing Status

On May 16, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California overturned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) March 31, 2020 withdrawal (2020 Withdrawal) of a proposed Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing and section 4(d) rule for the “bi-state population” of the greater sage grouse (Bi-state Grouse). The Bi-state Grouse lives along the California-Nevada border within six population management units (PMUs) monitored by the Service.   

The Service proposed the Bi-state Grouse for listing as threatened in 2013, then later withdrew that proposal ...

This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to list the sand dune phacelia (Phacelia argentea) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), along with a proposed section 4(d) rule that would prohibit several activities with respect to the species.  The proposed rule also includes a designation of approximately 252 acres of critical habitat in Del Norte County in California, and Coos and Curry Counties in Oregon. 

The sand dune phacelia is an evergreen, herbaceous, flowering perennial in the forget-me-not family of plants.  It blooms from ...

The New Endangered Species "Protection" Requirements for Steelhead Trout Will Impact Water Managers’ Options and Groundwater Sustainability Plans

Join us on March 29, 2022, when we will participate in the 2022 Annual AGWT-AGWA California Groundwater Issues Conference in Lakewood, CA, hosted by American Ground Water Trust and Association of Ground Water Agencies.

We will be providing a presentation entitled “The New Endangered Species ‘Protection’ Requirements for Steelhead Trout Will Impact Water Managers’ Options and Groundwater Sustainability Plans.” During this session, we will discuss how the new California endangered species listing will affect operations from Santa Maria, in the central ...

Fish and Wildlife Service Publishes Hotly Anticipated Northern Long-Eared Bat Proposal

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 ...

California Court Maintains Protections for Western Joshua Tree

On February 16, 2022, a California state court upheld protections afforded the western Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The ruling came in connection with a lawsuit filed by the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association and others (Plaintiffs), alleging that the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) failed to abide by its own rules in finding a petition to list the western Joshua tree indicated listing the tree may be warranted. A Commission finding that listing a species under CESA may be warranted ...

District Court Reverses Trump-Era Rule, Restoring Gray Wolf ESA Protections

Last week, a decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California restored Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the gray wolf (Canis lupus) across most of the contiguous United States.

In 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a final rule removing federal protections for the last two remaining gray wolf entities listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA.  The final rule asserted delisting was warranted because neither the Minnesota entity nor the 44-state entity qualified as a species, subspecies, or distinct population ...

On February 8, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published findings on several petitions to list species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), some of which have been highly anticipated.

Pursuant to an August 2020 settlement agreement between the Service, WildEarth Guardians, and Western Watersheds Project, the Service published a 12-month finding on a petition to list the Sonoran desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai). The tortoise is patchily distributed across 68,600 square miles in the Sonoran Desert ecoregion of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. In its 12-month ...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has issued a final rule reclassifying the Morro shoulderband snail (Helminthoglypta walkeriana) from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The final rule also includes a rule issued under ESA section 4(d) to provide for the conservation of the species.

The Morro shoulderband snail, or banded dune snail, is a type of terrestrial snail named after the dark band on the shoulder of its shell. The species is typically found in dense clumps of grass, young patches of ice plant, and stockpiled anthropogenic ...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Listing Small Butterfly as Endangered

On January 25, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to list the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly is a small butterfly with dark brown, red, orange, and cream coloring, punctuated by black spots and dark lines, on its wings. The butterfly is a subspecies of the Anicia checkerspot, or variable checkerspot, in the Nymphalidae family, and is native to the Sacramento Mountains in south-central New ...

Fish and Game Commission to Consider Protections for Southern California Steelhead

In July 2021, CalTrout submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list a population of the fish Oncorhynchus mykiss, referred to as the Southern California Steelhead or Southern Steelhead, as an endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The population extends from the Santa Maria River system on the central coast of California to the border with Mexico. ... 

Nossaman’s Endangered Species Law & Policy blog focuses on news, events, and policies affecting endangered species issues in California and throughout the United States. Topics include listing and critical habitat decisions, conservation and recovery planning, inter-agency consultation, and related developments in law, policy, and science. We also inform readers about regulatory and legislative developments, as well as key court decisions.

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