Endangered Species Law & Policy

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 Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) in the U.S. House of Representatives is considering a number of bills regarding wildlife, including bills to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). While it is unclear whether any of these will gain traction, collectively they represent a significant effort to reform federal wildlife law. Below is a summary of the Committee’s efforts:

ESA Reauthorization: Committee Chair Westerman (R-Arkansas) is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1897. The Committee held a hearing on this bill on March 25 ...

On May 12, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) to reevaluate its decision not to list two species of Joshua tree—Yucca brevifolia (western Joshua tree) and Yucca jaegeriana (eastern Joshua tree)—as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The district court issued a judgment in the case on July 7, 2025. The federal government has 60 days from the date of judgment to decide whether to appeal the district court’s decision.

The case stems from WildEarth Guardian’s ...

On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, Services) published a notice in the Federal Register proposing to rescind the Services’ respective definitions of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Proposed Rule). The notice indicates the Services will accept comments on the Proposed Rule until May 18.

Section 9 of the ESA prohibits “take” of endangered species and the Services have extended the “take” prohibition, by regulation, to many species listed as threatened under the ...

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 March 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (District Court) vacated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) special 4(d) rule for the northern distinct population segment (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken (LEPC). The 4(d) rule had prohibited, in most circumstances, “take” of the species’ northern DPS. Plaintiffs challenged the 4(d) rule in a number of ways, including on grounds that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) should have considered the economic impact of the 4(d) rule prior to its promulgation. As a result of the vacatur, it ...

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 January 20, 2025, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) will publish a positive 90-day finding on a 2016 petition (Petition) to delist the golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia) (GCWA). The decision comes on the heels of the agency’s recent recommendation to downlist the GCWA from endangered to threatened. Pursuant to Endangered Species Act section 4 and relevant implementing regulations, the Service will receive information from the public to inform a more detailed status review, and will publish a 12-month finding in which the agency will make a final ...

On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) announced that, following the completion of the Service’s 5-year status review (5-year Review) of the golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysopharia) (GCWA), the agency is recommending the species be downlisted from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species will remain listed as endangered unless and until the species is formally downlisted under the ESA pursuant to the necessary rulemaking process.

Citing better understanding of the GCWA and its habitat needs, along with ...

On December 10, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) released its long-anticipated listing proposal for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), along with a proposed critical habitat designation and species-specific 4(d) rule (Proposed Rule). The Proposed Rule indicates the public comment period closes on March 12, 2025.

The Service has proposed listing the monarch as threatened primarily as a result of threats from past and ongoing loss and degradation of breeding, migratory, and overwintering habitat, exposure to insecticides, and the effects of climate ...