Endangered Species Law & Policy

AWEA’s 2018 Wind Project Siting & Environmental Compliance Conference will be held from March 20-21, in Memphis, Tennessee.  Nossaman Environment and Land Use Partner Brooke Wahlberg and Senior Policy Advisor John Anderson will both be participating in the conference, where leaders from the wind industry, environmental permitting and compliance sector, the scientific community and regulatory officials come together for a robust discussion about the current state of siting and environmental compliance.  Discussions will provide key insights about wind energy development, operations, evolving trends, and strategies for improving the project permitting process and maximizing the output of operating assets, while increasing regulatory and legal certainty.

On February 12, 2018, in Alaska Oil & Gas Association v. National Marine Fisheries Service, Case No. 16-35380, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a 2016 decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska that vacated a final regulation listing the Arctic subspecies of ringed seal (Phoca hispida hispida, Phoca hispida ochotensis, and Phoca hispida botanica) as threatened and the Ladoga subspecies of ringed seal (Phoca hispida ladogensis) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq. (ESA).

At its February 2018 meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) received the one-year status review report on a petition to list tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) as a threatened or endangered species from the Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department).  In the status report the Department recommends listing the species as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.  Because the species is so widely distributed and abundant, listing could have major impacts on building, farming, and public infrastructure activities and projects across ...

On February 12, 2018, the Trump Administration released a budget proposal that would reduce spending on various components of the Endangered Species Act by almost half, including listing determinations and protection of critical habitat.  The administration's latest budget proposal has been met with widespread opposition by the environmental community.  See Trump Budget is Death Sentence for Endangered Species by Center for Biological Diversity.

On March 16, 2018, Nossaman Environment and Land Use Law Partner Svend Brandt-Erichsen will be serving as a member of the faculty for The Seminar Group’s CLE and Foresters program Pacific Northwest Timberlands Management: Regulations, Litigation, and Business Considerations. 

The full conference, held from March 15-16, 2018, at the Portland, Oregon World Trade Center, will also be available via live webcast and on demand following the live presentation.  Mr. Brandt-Erichsen’s presentation, entitled Practice Pointers for Energy Projects on Timberlands, will take place at 2:30 p.m. PT and will cover:  energy project permitting needs and timelines; potential wildlife impacts and related mitigation needs; and providing construction access and access during the project’s operating life.

Additional topics to be addressed at the conference include:

On February 6, 2018, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced an extension of the public comment period for the 5-year review of the endangered Western Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the Steller sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  The Western DPS includes Steller sea lions that reside in the central and western Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, as well as those that inhabit coastal waters in Asia.  According to the Federal Register notice, the extension of the comment period to April 6, 2018 was issued in response to a request for additional time.  In addition ...

On January 30, 2018, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a final rule listing the oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharinus lonigmanus) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  This final listing rule is the culmination of NMFS’ analysis following the 2015 petition filed by Defenders of Wildlife seeking to either list the species range-wide or, alternatively, to list two distinct populations (DPSs) of the oceanic whitetip shark.  In the final rule, NMFS notes that the shark is a globally-distributed species that has not undergone any range ...

In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed (pdf) that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) permit allowing take of the barred owl (Strix varia) to protect the threatened Northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) did not violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).  The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon held that nothing in the MBTA limits take of a species for scientific purposes to only those situations where the research is aimed at conservation of the species taken.

The case arose from the Service’s 2008 Recovery ...

On January 22, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review of the petition for writ of certiorari in Weyerhauser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, No. 17-71.  Petitioners challenge a 2-1 panel decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, affirming a rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) designating critical habitat for the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa) and including areas within critical habitat that the frog could not currently inhabit.

The dusky gopher frog spends most of its life underground in open-canopied pine forests.  ...

On February 9, 2018, Nossaman veteran Environmental Law attorney Steven Quarles will be serving as a member of the faculty for the American Law Institute (ALI) CLE program, Environmental Law 2018.  The full conference, held from February 8-9, 2018 in Washington, DC, is the first national program of its kind, and the slate of confirmed speakers includes top tier environmental sector leaders from both the public and private sectors.  This essential conference has become the place for legal and environmental professionals from across the country to meet and explore ...