Endangered Species Law & Policy

On January 12, 2022, the General Land Office of Texas (GLO) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) July 27, 2021 negative 90-day finding on a petition to delist the endangered golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia) (Negative 90-day Finding). The Negative 90-day Finding is the second 90-day finding issued by the Service on the same petition to delist the golden-cheeked warbler.

GLO challenged the first 90-day finding, published on June 3, 2016, as arbitrary and capricious on several grounds. On February 6, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas upheld the first 90-day finding. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, however, reversed the decision of the lower court, and required the Service to review the delisting petition and publish a new 90-day finding. Nossaman represented amicus curiae American Stewards of Liberty in the case, supporting the position of the GLO.